M    Mb'l    55D 


iiiiiiiiiraiffliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiuyiiiiiiiiHiinNiiiiiiim^  """ 


SINIK  IM  1  NM  \I.   in  P.IK  AlIONS 
oi'  rill 

I^NI\'I'RS1TV  OI-   CAIIIORNiA 


1S6S-191S 


STL'DIhS  IN   inHLICAL  TARALLLLISM 


PART  I. 
AR  \1.1,1'.1.1>M    IN   .\\:(^S 


LOUIS  I.  NEWMAN 


PAR  I"   II. 

r.\R.\l.l.I.l.l>M    IN    ISAIAH,   ClIAlTKRS   1-10 


WII.l.IAM   rul'PKR 


i:zU: 


'M. 


KOHKWOHD 

The  stiulits  pi-fsi'iitftl  in  fhtsi-  pajri's  aiv  in  ^'icat  iii.asun'  tin- 
result  of  work  done  in  the  University  of  California  in  tin-  year 
lyiiVll).  Tiiey  were  pronipteil  in  the  tirst  instanee  l)y  a  desire 
to  arninj^e  for  elass-room  work  a  suitable  text-liook  with  whieli 
to  introduce  students  of  Hebrew  to  tlu'  pro|)helie  literature. 
Surely  students  of  no  other  lan!ruaj;e  nuist  work  with  texts  as 
full  of  diftieulties  as  is  the  most  of  that  literature.  Courses  in 
the  Prophets  often  eonsist  niaiidy  of  leetures  by  the  iiistruetor 
otferinyr  ex|)lanations  of  linji;uistie  and  stylistic  abnormalities; 
so  loud  is  the  ereakinjr  of  the  critical  ajiparatus  that  the  student 
is  constantly  distracted  from  any  literary  appreciation  of  the 
text  it.self.  It  seemed  to  me  that  in  preparinjr  a  text  for  students 
the  editor  should  not  only  renmve  those  evident  errors  which 
even  conservative  critics  admit  and  which  ai"e  easily  rectified,  but 
he  should  also  whcnvcr  tln-re  is  a  j;reat  difficulty  and  a  fairly 
stron^r  [iresiunption  of  error  boldly  adopt  some  satisfactory 
emendation.  It  is  jjenerally  possible  to  find  another  and  clearer 
pas.sa>re  in  the  literature  treatinyr  of  the  same  subject  as  does 
the  suspicious  pas.saj;e.  expre-ssin-r  what  is  evidently  its  intended 
thou':ht,  and  olferinjr  a  basis  for  emendation  in  a  spirit  which 
the  eilitor  can  feel  sure  docs  no  violence  to  the  ancient  Hebrew. 

After  such  a  tnatment  of  the  text  of  Isaiah  had  been  be<run 
it  became  evident  that  whether  that  prophet  rc-rularly  delivered 
his  oracles  in  jiarallelism  or  not.  the  clear  i)r«'ponderance  of  par- 
allelistic  structure  therein  must  preclude  the  acceptance  (»f  any 
emiiidatiou  which  does  not  retain  or  reestablish  such  a  structure. 
It  became  clear  also  that  the  >;reatest  difficulties  in  the  present 
t"Xt  are  found  just  when-  the  parallelism  is  defective.  It  seemed 
a  worthy  task,  therefore,  to  fro  further  into  the  subject ;  rei^xam- 
ine  sonu-  er)nsiderab!e  jiortion  of  prophetic  literature  from  this 
standpoint;  consistently  apply  the  test  of  parallelism  to  every 
passage  therein,  and  alouj?  the  lines  sujj<;isted  by  that  tist  seek 

(iiij 


^u-tnGO 


some  solution  for  every  problem,  liowever  difficult.  Accordingly 
while  I  was  mj'self  working  at  the  text  of  Isaiah,  Amos  was 
chosen  for  a  similar  study  by  the  Hebrew  seminar.  The  text 
was  analyzed,  certain  problems  were  formulated,  and  a  method 
of  possible  solution  was  suggested. 

ilr.  Newman's  article  in  its  first  form  contained  his  answers 
to  the  questions  raised ;  later  it  was  expanded  into  a  thesis  pre- 
sented for  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  this  University, 
though  for  its  final  draft  Mr.  Newman  gathered  material  while 
he  was  a  student  at  Columbia  University.  After  his  study 
was  almost  completed  several  modifications  were  made  on  the 
basis'  of  George  Buchanan  Gray's  Forms  of  Hebreiv  Poetry; 
a  reading  of  this  book,  hnwi'ver,  did  not  affect  Mr.  Newman's 
results  materially,  exeejit  when'  indicated;  its  main  influence 
was  in  the  adoption  of  Gray's  system  of  symbols  for  the 
schematization  of  the  parallelism. 

While  in  Mr.  Newman's  Amos  .studies  the  material  has  been 
classified  by  types,  in  my  paper  the  first  five  chapters  of  Isaiah 
have  been  studied  verse  by  verse,  the  Authorized  English  trans- 
lation given  at  the  head  of  each  paragraph  or  stanza  discussion, 
the  nature  of  the  parallelism  pointed  out,  and  one  or  several 
emendations  suggested  wherever  the  parallelism  either  is  itself 
defective  or  indicates  other  stylistic  defects.  In  chapters  6-10 
only  those  passages  have  been  treated  which  are  apparently 
defective  or  otherwise  call  for  special  comment ;  the  parallelism 
of  the  remaining  poi'tions  will  be  recognized  upon  reference  to 
the  translation  of  the  reconstructed  text. 

In  not  a  few  cases  in  both  the  Amos  aiid  the  Isaiah  studies 
the  proposed  solution  involves  a  transposition  of  words  and 
phrases;  and  as  in  a  recent  article  in  the  Journal  of  Biblical 
Lit<nifiirf,  XXXVI  (1917K  p.  03.  dealing  with  the  Book  of 
lldsi'a,  (ibjc'ctidu  is  ajiiiarciitly  raised  tn  such  transpositions  in 
geni'ral,  a  word  in  justification  of  this  principle  of  emendation 
should  be  said.  The  copyist  of  Oriental  manuscripts,  however 
careful  he  may  be,  sometimes  omits  not  only  letters  and  words, 
but  also  phrases  and  whole  sentences;  and  a  later  copyist  then 
inserts  such  marginal  or  interlinear  passages,  sometimes  in  the 


wrong  plufo.  Moreover,  niitlioi-s  tlieniselves  soiuetimes  make  siieli 
eorreetions  mid  insertions  in  tln-ir  own  nianiiseripts,  as  well  as 
in  tlio  nianuserii)ts  of  other  autlioi-s  (so  the  Arahie  ehronieier 
Ibn  Taphri  Hirdi  narrates^  ;  1  have  workiil  with  an  Arabic 
autojtraphie  manuseript  in  whieh  eonsideraltle  study  was  some- 
times neeessary  to  determine  where  sueh  insertions  were  intended 
to  he  plaeed;  and  ditTerent  mannserii)ts  of  the  same  Arabic  poem 
show  a  variation  in  the  order  of  lines  (for  example,  see  the 
f'liivirsitu  of  California  I'ublifations  in  Semitic  I'hilolofm,  II, 
120).  In  the  several  hundred  years  that  elapsed  between  the 
delivery  of  the  prophecies  of  Amos  and  Isaiah  and  tiie  date 
at  whieh  the  written  word  came  to  be  venerated  and  the  text 
fixed — centuries  which  saw  a  change  not  oidy  in  the  form  of 
the  alphabet  used  by  the  Hebrews  but  also  in  the  lan^'iiajre  of 
their  daily  speech — it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  manuscripts  of 
those  prophecies  did  not  snlTer  the  same  vicissitudes  which  other 
nmnuscripts  sulTcred  at  a  much  later  epoch  and  in  a  much 
shorter  space  of  time.  The  reader's  attention  is  called  particu- 
larly to  Isaiali  7.S ;  if  he  does  not  believe  that  this  vei*se  has  been 
edited  into  the  text,  and  at  the  wronjr  place — that  even  if  it  be 
retained,  it  must  be  transposed — he  will  have  little  sympathy  for 
many  passajr<'s  in  these  studies;  but  if  he  accept.s  the  trans- 
position, he  must  admit  the  probability  of  a  similar  solution  in 
placis  where,  form  and  sense  of  the  text  are  even  more  obscure 
and  can  be  imi>roved  thereby.  As  for  the  transposition  of  whole 
sections  from  their  present  serpience,  this  much  is  certain: 
Isaiah  did  not  write  his  prophecies  in  the  order  in  whieh  they 
havi-  been  hantied  down;  for  if  hi'  had  done  so,  the  sixth  chapter 
woidd  stand  first  in  the  liook.  C^uite  probably  the  prophecies 
were  first  written  on  ditTerent  |)ieces  of  whatever  writing 
material  wa.s  usi d  and  wtrc  arranpid  later,  as  wa.s  the  case  with 
the  Koran;  and  there  can  at  least  be  no  objection  to  transposinp 
chaptt'rs  into  ehronolofrical  secpienci".  or  any  other  seipieiu-e 
which  helps  in  an  appreciation  of  the  contents.  Furthermore, 
since  chapter  divisions  are  known  to  be  late,  we  may  disregard 
them  also  in  the  transposition  of  sections  where  internal  evidence 
warrant.s  the  chanpe. 

[v] 


The  question  of  successive  editions  of  prophetic  literature 
has  been  raised  several  times  in  the  paper  on  Amos.  In  studj-ing 
Isaiah  I  have  touched  upon  this  question  but  rarely,  since  in 
most  eases  it  does  not  affect  the  question  of  parallelism.  After 
an  even  larger  portion  of  Isaiah  has  been  examined,  it  will  be 
of  interest  to  determine  whether  supposed  differences  of  author- 
ship coincide  with  variations  in  the  nature  of  the  parallelism. 
Mr.  Newman's  conclusion  that  Amos  almost  invariably  uses  the 
couplet  structure  in  parallelism,  and  my  own  conclusion  that 
it  is  possible  to  find  many  variations  from  this  simple  structure 
in  Isaiah,  suggest  that  there  may  have  been  individual  prefer- 
ences in  this  matter  on  the  part  of  the  Hebrew  wi-iters. 

My  purpose  of  letting  the  laws  of  parallelism  suggest  emen- 
dations has  induced  me  to  neglect  as  far  as  possible  emendations 
suggested  by  others;  this  was  not  possible,  however,  in  the  case 
of  those  suggestions  recorded  in  the  frequently  consulted  Browu- 
Driver-Briggs  lexicon ;  no  doubt  others  of  mj-  emendations,  also, 
were  iu  reality  due  to  my  previous  readings  on  the  subject,  and 
I  beg  to  be  pardoned  for  not  tracing  them  to  llicir  smirces  and 
for  not  giving  credit  where  credit  may  possilily   he  dnr. 

Typographical  difficulties  have  led  to  the  usu  ol'  Irausliter- 
ation^  in  place  of  Hebrew  characters  in  these  studies;  as  this 
necessitates  the  insertion  of  vowels  into  a  text  written  originally 
witli  consonants  only,  it  has  the  disadvantage  that  emendations 
sometimes  seem  to  involve  more  radical  changes  than  tliey  in 
reality  do.  Moreover,  for  typographical  reasons  the  printing 
of  extensive  poi'tions  of  the  recon.structed  text  has  not  been 
attemjited,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Amos  Doom  Song ;  in  general 
the  transliteration  has  been  confined  to  the  emended  words.  In 
the  case  of  Isaiah  I  have  offered  instead  a  translation  of  the 
whole  of  the  reconstructed  text.  In  tliis  translation  my  purpose 
was  again  to  emphasize  the  parallelism.     Accordingly  absolute 


1  It  was  not  found  possible  even  to  follow  the  system  of  transliteration 
generally  accepted  in  the  United  States  to-day;  but  the  student  of  Hebrew 
will  easily  recognize  that  f  represents  the  Hebrew  gadkS  (dotted  s)  ;  q  the 
Hebrew  qOph  (dotted  k);  x  the  Hebrew  x^^th  (dotted  h)  ;  while  simple  s 
represents  the  Hebrew  sfimcl-Ji  and  sin,  and  in  a  few  cases  Arabic  sad  (i.e., 
(;ad).  Proper  names,  however,  have  in  general  been  left  without  diacritical 
marks  or  accents  of  any  kind ;  e.g.,  Hariri  instead  of  Xariri. 

[vi] 


literaliifss  lias  not  always  Ijceii  iiisistod  upon;  activo  niul  passive 
t'()iistnictii)iis  have  scum-tiiiu's  Itoi'ii  intfrcliaiifri'il ;  siii>,'li'  words 
i'xpn's.siii;r  tin-  spirit  »(  tin-  orifriiial  iiavi-  hrcn  used  wliiTf  lit- 
eraliiess  wonkl  have  dfinaiuli'd  sonic  loii!,'('r  paraphrase:  and 
unimportant  particles  have  sometimes  lieeu  omittid  (i'.>s..  the 
connective  "and")  where  the  mcaiiiiif,'  was  not  tiici-elty  altered. 
The  attempt  has  been  made  also  to  repn  sent  somethin",'  of 
the  assonance,  rhythm,  and  other  stylistic  characteristics  of  the 
Hebrew,  all  of  whicli  devices  have  been  used  in  the  translation 
in  aboid  the  same  proportion,  thoufrh  imt  always  at  the  same 
point  of  the  couplet,  as  in  the  ori<rinal. 

Bcint;  convinced,  however,  that  tlic  atlinities  of  Hebrew  jiar- 
allelism  arc  with  the  prototype  of  the  Arabic  saf  and  not  with 
the  classical  system  of  mctei-s,  I  have  not  attemi)ted  to  show 
exact  rcf^ularity  in  the  rhythm.  Little  is  known  coneerninfr  the 
prophet's  method  of  deliverinjr  his  oracles.  It  has  been  i)oinled 
out  that  saj'  in  Arabic  means  "the  ci)oin<r  of  the  dove."  ami  that 
Isaiali  speaks  of  "wizards  tiiat  peep  and  mutter";  it  mijrht  be 
added  that  if'tiin  (applied  to  the  utterance  of  the  prophets  rn 
Ihe  ecstatic  state,  and  translated  "saitii")  comes  from  a  root 
meaiiinfr  in  Arabic  "to  <,'roan  or  sip:h  ";  that  ndbhV  ("prophet") 
itself  comes  from  a  root  mcaiuiijr  "to  utter  a  low  sound."  or  "to 
bark  faintly":  hence  jierhaps  a  very  strikin<r  instance  of  para- 
nomasia  in  Is.  ;iG.10,  rcferrinjr  to  false  propiieis.  who  are  "dund) 
dojpi;  they  cannot  bark"  (liiibo"x  for  Utilx'i',  .just  as  hnz'im. 
"ravei-s."  in  the  same  sentence  is  used  instead  of  \i')zhiu 
"seers").  Hut  whether  I.saiah's  ridicule  of  the  "chirpin'r"  of 
wizards  im|)lies  tiiat  the  true  prophet  had  sctme  otiier  s|ieeial 
vocal  mi  thod  of  deliverinjr  liis  oracles,  or  that  he  spoke  in  tlie 
method  of  ordinary  speech,  is  not  clear.  If  tlie  prophets  chanted, 
perhaps,  the  inuuber  of  syllables  or  even  of  words  in  a  -sentence 
woidd  not  be  of  much  importance,  for  a  siufrle  .syllalile  mi-jht 
have  bei  n  In  Id  for  tin-  length  of  time  nornuilly  ",'iven  to  two  or 
more  syllables,  or  two  or  more  syllables  or  words  be  spoken  in 
the  time,  and  even  witli  the  numl)er  of  "beats,"  uonnally  piven 
to  one;  or  a  |)ause  or  rest  miplit  compensate  for  the  absence  of 
a  word    -this  particularly  in  the  casi-  of  lines  in  which  some  part 

(vii) 


of  a  sentence  must  be  supplied  in  thouglit  from  a  preceding  line ; 
while  tlie  words  in  a  particularly  short  line,  e.g.,  at  the  end  of 
certain  prophecies,  might  have  been  held  for  special  emphasis. 

Mr.  Newman  wisiu's  to  express  his  appreciation  for  several 
suggestions  (particularly  with  reference  to  the  relation  between 
primitive  parallelism  and  magical  incantations)  made  by  Rabbi 
Martin  A.  Meyer  of  San  Francisco,  Lecturer  in  Semitic  History 
in  the  University  of  California;  for  active  aid  and  criticism  by 
Professor  Richard  Gottheil  of  the  Department  of  Semitic  Lan- 
guages, Columbia  Univer.sity,  New  York;  and  for  information 
furnished  by  Professor  Max  Margolis  of  Dropsie  College,  Phila- 
ileli)liia.  Pi-ofessor  Israel  Frielander  of  the-  Jewish  Theological 
Si'iuinary.  New  York,  and  Dr.  Nahum  Slousehz  of  the  Rab- 
binical College  of  America. 

ily  tiiauks  are  due  to  several  of  my  colleagues,  particularly 
Professor  F.  J.  Tcggart  and  Professor  C.  L  Lewis,  for  suggesting 
changes  in  the  wording  of  mj^  translation;  likewise  to  Professor 
M.  Jastrow,  Jr..  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was 
in  California  wliih'  these  studies  were  in  progi-ess  and  first 
suggested  to  nw  tliat  they  might  be  worth  publishing. 


William  Poppkr. 


Berkelev,  California,  June  27,  101 J 


[These  jitipers  appear  also  iu  Volume  1  (Numbers  2  aud  3,  pp.  .37-444) 
uf  the  Unircrsitu  of  California  Publications  in  Semitic  Philology;  the  folios 
ill  brackets  in  the  present  volume  are  the  corresponding  folios  of  the  volume 
iu  the  Semitic  series,  and  should  be  used  iu  citations.] 


CONTENTS 


I'ART   I.— I'AK.M.I.KMSM    IN   AMOS 

lAPTBK    I. —  IXTKHDUCTION. 

Origiu   of   parallelism 


Evolutiuii  of  parallelism 

Xoii  Soniitic   parallelism: 

Finnish    _ _ _ „ 5 

Cbineso    „ „...     12 

NoarEasteru  parallelism: 

Sumerian  _ 29 

Babvloniau-Assvrian  : 31 


Arahic: 

Clnssifal   (ini'ludinK  Turkish  and  Persian) _ 39 

Nog- Arabic   „ 53 

Hebrew    _ „ „ „ '  57 

Coueliisiuns   „ _ 59 

ImUt  Development  of  Parallelism: 

lu  the  Apocrypha  and  the  Apocalypses _ „ 04 

In  Ciroek  orit;inals  by  Jews  _ „ „ 65 

lu  the  Now  Testament „ 65 

In  Syriac  _ „ 68 

In    rnbbinit-al    literature 69 

In  medieval  Jewish  literature „ 73 

In  modern  Hebrew  literature 76 

Chapter  II. — Paiallelism  in  Amos. 

Introduction  _.„ 80 

Parallelistic  poetry: 

t'oniplefo   parallelism   „ 81 

Double  structure „ 84 

Im-omplete  parallelism  „ 85 

Without  coniptMisation   „ 86 

With   com|M-nsatioD : 

Double  structure   .„ 89 

Fresh  term  structure 91 

Four  term  variations ii.'i 

Reduplication   ;•!• 

Alternate  parallelism: 

ricar  parallelism  102 


Near-prose :  Page 

Synonymous  saj'   107 

Non-syuouyuious  saj'   109 

Qina  parallelism   109 

Synthetic  couplets  110 

Clear  synthetic  Ill 

Doubtful  synthetic  114 

"That  say,"  or  quotational  couplets ll.j 

"In  order  that,"  or  conjunctival  couplets 117 

Relative  couplets  1 1 8 

Ka'"sher  or  simile  couplets 120 

Triplets  and  monostichs 122 

Conventional  historical   prophetic  phrases 129 

Prelude  and  postlude  prophetic  phrases 132 

Strophic  formations: 

Grief  song 133 

Series  of  Visions : 

First  pair  137 

Second  pair 139 

Prose-poetic    narrative,    7.10-17 142 

Chapter  III. — The  Doom  Song,  Amos  1.3-2.8. 
Verse  and  stanza  parallelism 

Reconstruction   of  Doom   Song 146 

Variations  in  the  eight  stanzas 150 

Analysis  of  the  eight  stanzas: 

Stanza  1.  Damascus  153 

Stanza  2.  Philistia   IfiO 

Stanza  3.  Tyre    I(i8 

Stanza  4.  Edom    172 

Stanza  5.  Ammonites  177 

Stanza  6.  Moab  ISfi 

Stanza  7.  Judah    192 

Stanza  8.  Israel    197 

Date  of  the  Prophecy 198 

Conclusions  on  the  Doom  Song 200 

Classification  and  Tables 202 

Conclusions  20;i 

Index  of  verses 209 

PART  II.— PARALLELISM  IN  ISAIAH,  Chapters  1-10 

Index   of   translations 21 1 

Tran.slation  of  the  reconstructed  text 212 

Notes  237 

Tables  and   Summary 379 

Synonymous  and  complementary  parallelism 380 

Synthetic   and   incomplete   parallelism 382 

'j    Suspensive  parallelism   383 

Subor.liuat.-  clauses  in  parallelism 384 


l».\i:.\LI.i:i.lSM    IN    AMOS 


LOriS   I.  NKWMAN 


fllAI'TKK   I 

INTKODITTIOX 

OuKiiN  uF  1'ai{\m-i:li.sm 

Parallilisin  in  jxiitry  is  tlu'  cxiJi'ission  of  universal  psyeiin- 
lu^ii-al  principles.  It  is  a  law  of  biolofrit'ul  life  that  "  'deep 
ealirtli  unto  deep.'  tree  to  tree,  bird  to  bird,  all  the  world  over."' 
So  in  tlie  tield  of  literary  expre.ssion,  tiioujrht  answers  thou'rht 
and  word  answers  word.  For  tiie  human  mind,  riehly-stored, 
rarely  eontents  itself  witli  a  siufrle  fonuulati()n  of  a  tlieme  close 
to  its  interests:  to  express  a  thoiifrht  in  brief  laeonie  form  merely 
onee,  does  not  satisfy  it.  In  prose,  tiie  autiior  usually  seeks  to 
reaffirm  and  elaborate  his  .statement.s  eitiu-r  by  repetition  of 
favorite  phrases,  or  by  the  use  of  new  words  and  expressions; 
and  this  is  true  even  more  stron^rly  of  poetry,  the  lanjjruafie  of 
feelirif,'.  "So  soon  as  tlie  jieart  <rives  way  to  its  emotions,  wave 
follows  upon  wave."-  The  jxH-t  or  projihet  in  moments  of 
inspiration  j)oni's  forth  metaphoi-s  and  eharaeterizations  of  his 
subject  in  rich  flood.  Yet  a  sense  of  inner  orderliness  prevails; 
the  most  eloquent  pi-ophets  are  usually  most  .skilled   in   [loetic 


'  Smith,  The  Early  Poetry  of  Itrarl   (Lomloii,   1912),  p.    U>. 

2  Hordcr,  The  Spirit  of  Ilrbrnr  Porlni:  translntion  by  Jiinies  Mnrsli 
(Burlington,  1833),  p.  -13.  Ilcr.ler  gives  one  of  tin-  In'st  nnnlysos  of  the 
paychologT  of  parnlleli.ini. 

(37] 


2  Parallelism  in  A)nos 

forms."  This  feeling  for  organization  and  regularity  guides  the 
repetition ;  and  though  it  is  possible  for  the  poet  to  heap  up  a 
series  of  similar  statements,  as  is  seen  in  the  most  primitive 
poetry,  it  will  lie  found  that  a  later  process  demands  ordinarily 
the  use  of  only  two,  in  couiiht  structure.  Herein  a  principle 
of  balance  seems  to  enter  whereby  the  poet  consciously  or 
uncousciouslj'  places  one  statement  opposite  to  another  either 
synonymous  or  unlike.  Two  psychological  rules  thus  appear 
•to-  iutej-pljiy :  one  demanding  repetition,  in  the  same  or  different 
Wofds,' o"f  a_.special  thought;  the  other  demanding  orderliness 
'•aad  res^t'ieting  this  repetition  to  a  couplet  formation.  These 
two  tendencies  are  apparent  in  the  rise  and  evolution  of  primi- 
tive poetry. 

Evolution  of  P.\r.\llelis,m 

The  origin  and  development  of  primitive  poetry  are  marked 
by  three  great  stages:  first,  indefinite  iteration,  unchanged,  and 
unvarying;  second,  incremental  repetition;  third,  artistic  par- 
allelism.'' Iteration  may  be  designated  as  the  earliest  form  of 
poetry ;  it  was  communal,  the  s^Dontaneous  expression  of  emotion, 
beginning  in  the  crowd,  and  carried  forward  and  backward 
without  cease,  almost  luider  the  influence  of  mob  hypnotism. 
Usually  a  single  verse,  a  statement  of  fact,  or  in  the  first  in- 
stance, a  fact  stated  not  formally  but  by  repetition  of  words 
in  a  rhythmic  period,  was  the  subject  of  iteration. ° 

Incremental  repetition  arises  w'hen  communal  mass  song  is 
supplemented  by  the  assertion  of  individual  poetic  genius.  A 
variation  suddenly  breaks  into  the  iteration  from  the  lips  of 
a  daring  singer,  moved  by  an  inner  impulse.  He  supplements 
the  stock  of  communal  refrains  with  those  of  his  own  invention. 
At  first,  this  must  have  occurred  at  the  end  of  a  long  series  of 
iterations,  to  interrupt  the  monotony;  gradually,  the  series  of 

3  Kaplan,  Psijchology  of  Prophecy  (Philadelphia,  1908),  p.  60flf.  For 
a  clear  statement  of  the  psychology  of  parallelism  in  its  relation  In  the 
development  of  balance  and  rhythm,  see  Hupfeld,  Die  Psalmen  (Gotha, 
1888),  II,  p.  xxviiff. 

4Sr.'  I.  Ill  MM  !.,   l:., minings  of  Poetry   (New  York,  1901),  pp.  208-209. 

^Ihi.i..  y.  _  V  I  iiiiiraere  cites  as  examples  of  iteration  the  beginnings 
of  the   I  -I,     I.  I'lated  cries  of  the  Africans,  the  Fuegians,  the  Boto- 

cudos,  .-iii'i  Mihii   .-.a\af;e  peoples. 


I'arulhlisni  in  Aiiius  3 

ri'iM'titiims  imist  liavo  biu'ii  sliortoiifd  Uy  luoiv  t'rc(iuoiit  varia- 
tions, and  finally,  the  iicridd  of  i-omplitc  rrccdinn  of  variation 
luiist  liavi-  appcari'tl,  thoii;;h  this  marks  a  late  stajrc  in  tlic 
dcvt'lopnu'nt  of  poi'try." 

Parailolisni  marks  a  third  distinct  major  division  in  the 
t'vohition  of  ancient  poetry.  In  order  to  trace  tlic  steps  through 
which  hald  iteration  became  artistic  parallelism,  it  is  necessary 
to  turn  to  those  literatures  of  anti<iuity  wherein  parallelism  is 
iiHist  apparent.  These  divide  tluinselves  into  two  classes:  first, 
the  literatures  of  several  non-Semitic  peoples,  iucludinjr  the 
Kinnish  and  the  Chinese;  second,  the  literatures  of  several 
Sdnitie  and  yemitically  influenced  peoples,  indudinfr  the  E;ryp- 
tian.  the  Sunierian,  the  Hal)ylonian-A.s.syrian,  the  Arabic  and  the 
Hebrew.  Since  the  pivot  of  this  study  is  Hebrew  parallelism, 
inv.  stigation  into  paralleli.sm  outside  of  the  Bible  will  be  lar-rely 
comparative. 

raralblism  is  so  simple  a  |>oetic  motif  that  it  is  discoverable 
in  some  deirree  in  almost  every  literature.  Isolated  couplets 
can  be  selecti'd  from  the  Ureek,"  the  Latin,  Indian,'"  Germanic" 
and  An!.'lo-Sa.\on'"  literatures.  But  it  is  of  little  value  to  frather 
these  illustrations  from  all  sides;  they  merely  indicate  an 
obvious  fact,  namely,  that  the  tendency  to  express  the  same 
thoufiht   in   varyiiifi  language   is  confiiud   to  no  one   group  or 


'  I  bill.,  p.  200-201;  Guniiuore  (fives  ilhistrationa  from  English  ball.iils 
(p.  20i!ff. )  mill  iiiolmlfs  theroin  casies  in  which  the  sniiie  line  or  stanza 
is  sung  imlefinitoly,  with  the  nsc  of  a  new  naino,  nnniber,  or  faet  in  each 
repetition.  In  songs  of  lament,  labor,  triumph,  processions,  festal  refrains, 
the  throefoM  priM-ess  of  pcR'tic  development  is  present,  in  almost  all  litera- 
tures. 

I  Soo  Schleusner,  Dixtcrtalio  de  paralUUxmo  memhrorum  egregio  inter- 
prclalioiiiji  tubxidin  (Leipzig,  1817),  p.  1 1 ;  Xonlen,  Pii-  aiitikc  KuH.iti>ro.ia 
(Leipzig,  1898),  II,  813-824;  Schmidt,  Vcbir  dm  biiu  der  pindarUchcn 
Stroiihfti  (I^>ip7.ig.  1882),  /«M.»im. 

»  Friedrich  v.  Schlegel  professed  to  have  fonnd  in  the  Sanskrit  slnka 
a  close  nflRnity  between  the  Indian  proverb  and  the  Hebrew,  though  the 
former  is  much  more  regular  in  its  u.se  of  four  et|unl  measure,  eight  syllable 
feet  than  the  free  and  loose  Hebrew  structure.  Saemmtlichr  tf'erkc;  ed.  2 
(Vienna.  lS4t>i.  I,  121-121.  Rosenkranz,  llaiidhufh  d.  ollg.  Hinrbirhtr 
d.  Pnijtif  ill.ill'.  1^-J  ,  I.  77.  liii.U  no  basis  for  this  comparison,  and 
therein  se<n  ,  ■  i  no  role  in  the  Sanskrit. 

"Wnttk.  Ur  <;,g,nunrt    (Berlin,   181)9), 

p.    l.'i".        il  ;■•<    the    most    important    formal 

ethnic    thow^;.;  •"   •», »••     ')     in    existence.       "lu    forms 

such  as  '  Mou>t  uinil  ^u,  War/.e  nimt  ab, '  'Cil(H-ken  gehen  Toten  nach, 
AVnrzen  gehn  mit'  there  lies  a  genuine  and  original   folk-poetry,  a  parallel- 

[•■59  1 


4  Panilh Usui  in  Amos 

assi  nilily  of  ])oi)])1ps.  Imt  is  universal.  It  is  imperative,  liowever, 
to  turn  t<i  tliiisc  literatures  wherein  parallelism  is  a  if  not  the 
dominant  poetic  law;  herein  are  included  Chinese  and  Finnish 
poetry,  in  which  even  the  casual  reader  at  once  perceives  that 
parallelism  is  not  merely  prevalent,  but  highly  developed,  and 
especially  the  literatures  of  the  Semitic  and  Semitically  in- 
fluenetd  peoples  of  western  Asia.  who.  it  will  be  show'u,  adopted 
till'  iiiiillf  of  iiarallclism  virtually  as  tlifir  own;  it  ap])ears  to 
have  liccn  the  eoninion  sulisti'atum  for  the  literatures  of  Egypt, 
Babylonia,  Arabia  and  -Judi  a.  Egyijt,  it  is  true,  failed  to  attain 
great  heiglits  in  its  use,  and  remained  on  the  low  levels  between 
iteration,  incremental  repetition,  and  parallelism.  Arabic  liter- 
ature after  maintaining  a  species  of  parallelism  for  centuries, 
broke  away  into  new  fields  of  poetic  forms.  Babj'louia  and 
Assyria  accepted  the  prevalent  literary  forms  of  their  Sumerian 
predecessors,  and  gave  the  expansion  of  parallelism  great  im- 


ism  of  thought  as  in  Hebrew  literature,  particularly  the  Proverbs. ' '      Other 
examjjles  of  Germanic  parallelism  are  as  follows: 

"  Wer  hat  gesohen  dass  fles  Bockes  Horn  zum  Himmel  reicht? 
Wer  hat  gesehen  class  des  Kameels  Schwauz  zur  Erde  reicht?" 
Or 

' '  Was  gedenkst  du  die  Voegel  des  Himmels  zu  f angen  1 
Was  gedenkst  du  die  Fische  des  Meeres  zu  f  angen  ? ' ' 
Or 

' '  Pes  Menschen  Dummheit  ist  inne, 
Des  Viehes  Buntheit  aussen. ' ' 
(Radloff,    Proben     der    Volkslittcratur    dcr    tuerkischen    Staemme    Sued- 
Sihcricns,  St.  Petersburg,  ISRfi,  I,  (i-7).     Also  in  the  Germanic,  parallelism 
is  associated  with  magical  formulas: 

"Tn    d..s   TTunds   Zaliii   jiin,.-'   vv  schwinden, 
li,   ,lrs  W,.lfs  Z.-nin   I ^'j.-  vv  wachsen, 

In    .l,.s    XnlMrs    Win. I    nnt  wnn-li,MI, 

.\iis   anni    Wind   liinaiis   ins   Lfnre." 
{Miithi.ichi    n.   iiuu/Lschc  Licdrr  dcr  Ehsten,  St.   Petersburg,  1854,  p.   87.) 
'"Smith,  pp.  14-1().     These  selections  from  English  folk  songs,  nursery 
rhymes    and    bnllnds    often    show    rntlicr    incremental    repetition    than    par- 


lu-nrr     nul     n:,tnr    :,r..l     nMuiniil.        M.inv     F.nyli-I,     proverbs    sin.w    the    abliost 
univiTsal   aiititlH'tic   puralh-'bsMi : 

"Laugli  and   the  world   laughs  with   you. 
Weep  and  von  weep  aloiio. ' ' 
Or 

"To  dare  to  fail  is  noble, 
To  fail  to  dare  ignoble." 
Parallelism  is  scattered  througli  Anglo-Saxon  and  English  literature:   both, 
however,  are  ruh'cl   by   a  comjiU'tcly  different  literary  psychology   from   tlic 
ancient  Semitic  litcnitnrcs,  and   i)anillclism   is  never  dominant. 


[60] 


I'lirallttisiii   in  Aiiius  5 

lutiis.  Till'  llt'lirews,  liowi'vcr.  the  inheritors  ol"  a  lon^  literary 
tniditioM.  w<-Kmiiiu'(1  paralli-lisiii  as  a  national  poetic  iisa>;e :  and, 
in   their  iiands  it   attained   its  most    notabh-  expression. 

NON-SEMITIC  PARALLELISM 
Finnish  I'akam.fmsm 

Finnisli  poetry  is  remarkable  for  its  sin;.nilar  ri;:idity  of 
form;  it  is  terse  and  epifrnimmatie.  and  derives  its  style  and 
aroma  from  a  tradition  datiiifr  back  ])erliaps  liOOO  years."  Its 
two  main  peeidiarilies  are  alliteration,  or  the  rhyme  of  letters, 
whielj  is  i)raetieed  to  siieh  a  di^'i"'''  lliat  often  not  only  do  the 
words  of  the  same  verse  befrin  witii  tlie  same  consonant,  as  is 
generally  the  ease  in  old  northern  i>oetr\.  hut  also  with  the  same 
following  vowel;  and  ])arallelism.  or  the  rhyme  of  sense.  Its 
similarity  in  this  latter  respect  to  Hebrew  poetry  has  been  noted 
by  several  investigators;'-  and  it  is  in  parallelism,  called  ninon 
kirto,  that  the  Finnish  regidarity  and  conciseness  demonstrate 
them.selves  most  notably.  "In  Finnish  the  second  line  of  a 
couplet  is  nearly  always  a  repetition  in  other  words  of  its 
predecessor  and  stands  in  apposition  to  it.  If  there  is  no  sub- 
ject or  no  verb  in  the  second  line,  this  must  be  understood  from 
the  line  above,  though  sometimes  it  is  vice-versa.""  Com- 
paretti  states  the  following  fonnulation  of  the  |)rineiple:  "Every 
line  nuist  contain  a  complete  idea,  or  a  part  complete  in  itself 
of  a  greater  idea,  and  this  must  be  repeated  in  ditferent  words 
in  the  succeeding  line."'* 

The  law  of  jtarallelism  inHuenees  the  outward  foi'in  of  Fin- 
nisli verse,  for  it  renders  almost  necessary  the  rhyme  of  sub- 
stantival or  verbal  endings.      Herein  is  the  germ  of  developed 


>i  Btllson,  P(>;>M/(ir  Portrti  of  the  Finn*  (London,  1900),  p.  3.  This 
contnin.1  n  biblioKraphiral  inilrx  of  works  in  En);li!ih,  Kronrh,  and  Ocnnan 
on   Finnish  poetry. 

»=  Brown,  PropU  of  Finland  in  Archaic  Times  (London,  1892),  p.  279- 
280;  nnd  others  mentioned  l>olow,  partiriilnrly  rompnrctti,  Traditional 
Pn-try  of  the  Finn.i,  trnnslatcd  l>y  Isabella  Si.  .\nderton  (New  York, 
1898)',  p.  .1.");   Porthnn,  Vr  Porsi  Fe'nnica  (Alio,  17»if>  1778),  p.  20. 

"  Abcrcromhy,  "  Majfic  Songs  of  the  Finns,"  Fulklnn  (London.  18!tOK 
I,  22:  Comparetti,  op.  cil..  p.  .13. 

>♦  Ibid.,  p.  38. 

[61] 


6  PariiJlflkiii  lit  Amos 

rhyme.  Comparetti  regards  parallelism  as  a  primitive  rtwtif, 
prior  and  subordinated  to  regular  metre.  His  opinions  are 
valuable  for  a  consideration  of  parallelism  in  Arabic  literature, 
where  an  early  parallelism  seems  to  have  been  overlaid  by  intri- 
cate poetical  devices.  Wlien  poetry  is  in  a  primitive  condition 
and  makes  abundant  use  of  parallelism  and  of  consonances  and 
assonances  of  every  kind,  then  the  metrical  verse,  if  it  exists, 
is  apt  to  lie  roughly  indicated,  unequal,  or  variable  in  length 
and  in  the  number  of  its  syllables.  As  soon  as  metre  makes  good 
its  claims,  imposes  number  in  a  measurement  of  lines,  and  fixes 
rhythmical  rales  based  not  so  much  on  the  ({uality  as  on  the 
quantity  of  sounds,  the  verse  becomes  varied,  and  the  law  that 
governs  the  qualit.y  and  recurrence  is  either  limited  or  lost. 
Alliteration  also  disappears.  Rhyme  remains,  but  no  longer  as 
free  as  in  primitive  poetiy^^ ;  it  is  linked  with  the  complex  laws 
of  metre,  and  becomes  obedient  to  laws  regarding  distribution, 
position  and  combination  of  verses.  It  is  important  to  observe 
that  the  Fiiuiic  rune  follows  the  eight-syllable  trochaic  un- 
rhymed  measure.  This  adherence  to  a  constant  law  may  be  a 
sign  of  the  maturity  of  the  poetry.  At  the  same  time,  Finnish 
rune  knows  only  this  one  kind  of  metre,  and  has  not  j-et  arrived 
at  the  stage  of  producing  various  forms,  as  it  has  not  yet  learned 
to  group  the  lines  into  stanzas,  and  "has  not  advanced  beyond 
the  use  of  such  primitive,  even  archaic  means  as  alliteration, 
free  rhymes,  parallelism."" 

Parallelism  also  affects  the  very  substance  and  ideas  of  the 
poem.  In  lyric  poetrj-,  the  repetition  or  the  variation  in  other 
words  of  an  image  or  thought  does  not  make  for  monotony,  but 
as  Xavier  Marmier  has  noted,  leaves  in  the  mind  an  impression 
of  indefinable  charm,  of  deep  melody,  of  rich  variations  of 
thought ;  parallelism  colors,  heiglitens,  multiplies  poetic  expres- 
sion, generates  emphasis  and  warmth.  In  the  epic,  however, 
in  the  narrative,  traditional  historical  poetry,  the  sameness  of 
verse  and  the  smallness  of  resource  afforded  by  parallelism 
prevent  the  attainment  of  this  lyric   warmth,   movement,   and 


15  In  Hebrew  poetry,  it  will  be  seen  that  rhyme  is  accidental  and  rare. 

16  Comparetti,  p.  3(). 


[62] 


I'linilUlisni   ill  Amos  7 

impetus;''  iiisti-ad  of  shurpiMiint;  the  outlines  of  the  itleti,  paral- 
lelisni  ofteutiiut's  rouilei-s  it  triMuuious,  undeteriuiued,  or  fjenerie. 
Finding  no  exaet  synonyii\  or  iinat;e  adapted  to  repeat  an  idea, 
the  Uiiilaja,  or  popular  sinfjer,  substitutes  another  whieh  he 
thinks  appropriate;  henee  often  the  speeifie  idea  lieeonies  iihirred 
and  is  for-jotten.'^ 

This  leads  to  a  statement  of  the  prohahle  orifrin  of  Kinnish 
parallelism.  It  may  lie  in  mafjieal  incantations,  similar  per- 
haps to  the  Sumerian  and  Babylonian-Assyrian.  The  first  stafje 
seems  to  have  been  mere  rciH'tition.  Among  the  Samoyedes,  the 
Shaman  or  magie-man  begins  by  beating  the  magie  drum,  and 
singing  a  few  words  to  gloomy  awesome  musie ;  then  another 
perfonner  of  less  importunee  comes  in,  and  they  sing  the  same 
words  together,  after  whieh  the  first  remains  silent  while  the 
seeond  repeats  alone  what  he  sang.  The  song  of  these  Samoyede 
Shamans  consists  of  a  few  words,  and  is  almost  entirely  im- 
provised. Among  the  Lapps,  the  magical  incantations,  spoken 
in  a  sing-.song  manner,  accompanied  by  the  roll  of  the  magic 
drum,  betray  a  rudimentary,  oscillating  and  variable  near-metre, 
a  kind  of  rhythmic  pro.se.  The  Finnish  magical  formula  in  a 
late  periwl  of  development,  though  it  was  pronotmced  by  one 
l)ei*son,  still  contains  much  repetition.  In  short,  while  the 
evidence  is  not  entirely  clear,  the  earliest  origins  of  Finnish 
parallelism  may  be  traced  back  to  magical  riles  whinin  repe- 
tition i)layed  the  important  rrile.'"" 

In  Finnish  epic  poetry,  richer  evich'nee  as  to  origin  is  avail- 
able. It  is  the  ancient  custom  for  the  runes  to  be  sung  by  two 
men,  of  whom  one  is  the  chief,  the  precentor;  the  other  is  his 
a.ssi.stant,  the  repeater,  kertoja.  Seated  side  by  side,  or  oppcxsite 
to  each  other,  they  join   hands;  dnrinir  the  song,   their  bodies 


IT  Ibid.,  p.  3.1. 

>*  Ibid.,  p.  67.  "The  lauliija  will  say  ttmt  Vaiiiniiioini'n,  Imvine  falloii 
into  tlie  waters,  '  went  alwiit  there  for  six  years,  there  for  seven  aiiniiners, 
to^jM'd  for  nine  years,"  where  the  nnmln-rs  oseillnte  l)y  reason  of  the  par- 
alleli.sm,  ami  we  obtain  the  result  of  a  lonfj,  indeterminate  period  of  time. 
Sneh  a  phenomenon  ilo<'»  not  occur  in  Hebrew,  where  the  seooml  term  serves 
rather  to  heighten  than  to  obscure  the  clarity  of  the  terms.  Herein  is  one 
of  the  points  which  shows  the  ilifTerence  in  composition,  surely  in  origin, 
of  the  Hebrew  parallelism. 

'•« /hirf.      S**  also  pp.    17Iff. ;    B«'auvais,  "  Iji    maRie  chez  les   finnois," 
Rrxue  dr  l/i..»f«irc  dr»  Krligion».  V,  1;   VI,  2.11    (1SS2). 

[63] 


8  ParaUelixm   i)i  Amos 

are  in  a  constant  swinging  movement.  One  of  the  singers 
begins  by  singing  a  nine  stiehos  alone,  in  the  last  bar  of  which 
the  other  joins,  simply  repeating  the  stiehos,  and  so  on  to  the 
end.  During  this  repetition  the  first  singer  finds  the  needful 
time  to  reflect  on  what  his  next  line  is  to  be.  The  second  singer 
when  he  repeats  the  line,  generally  introduces  some  word  of 
approbation,  but  seldom  does  he  correct  the  first  singer,  or  vary, 
or  add  to  his  first  stiehos.  The  Finnish  practice,  then,  is  mainly 
a  feat  of  memory,  dependent  upon  the  conservative  spirit  of 
tradition,  which  relies  upon  the  agreement  of  two  memories; 
though  it  is  also  to  some  extent  a  feat  of  literary  ingenuity, 
especially  when  the  line  is  improvised, ^^  for  the  second  singer 
must  know,  or  guess  in  time,  the  end  of  the  line  that  he  is  to  sing 
with  the  first  singer.  If  it  were  that  the  second  singer  took  up 
the  general  thought  of  the  first  and  repeated  it  in  different  meta- 
phors and  images,  then  this  phenomenon  would  indubitably 
deserve  recognition  as  the  basis  of  Finnish  parallelism,  as  the 
practice  of  the  Hebrew  singing  women  at  the  Ked  Sea,  and 
the  return  of  David,  seem  to  suggest  the  origin  of  Hebrew  par- 
allelism. But  even  as  the  matter  stands,  it  must  be  concluded 
that  within  the  general  sphere  of  the  epic  song  the  method  of 
the  first  appearance  of  parallelism  is  probably  to  be  sought.-" 

The  basic  form  of  Finnish  parallelism  is  obviously  the  coup- 
let, though  combinations  of  more  than  two  lines  are  frequent. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  parallelism ;  repetitions  often  occur 
in  more  than  two  lines,  especially  in  magic  songs,  where  they 
are  continued  for  a  great  number  of  lines.  Sometimes  par- 
allelism is  absent,  and  there  are  even  lines  whereof  the  sense  is 
completed  only  in  the  following  line;  repetition  also  occurs  not 
only  from  line  to  line,  but  also  in  the  same  line.  For  in  the 
use  of  the  various  motifs  of  Finnish  poetry,  the  Inula ja.  though 
he  is  bound  absolutely  to  the  eight  syllable  troeliaie  metre,  and 

19  Comparetti,  p.  69. 

20  Amongst  the  Karels,  the  ohl  manner  of  singing  is  kept  np,  anil  one 
meets  with  many  of  the  old  songs  there  (Brown,  op.  cit.,  pp.  278-279).  It 
must  be  observed,  however,  that  in  some  eases,  though  this  is  doubtful, 
the  second  singer  repeats  the  thought  of  the  first  in  different  words.  See 
Paul,  The  Ealevala  (Helsingfors,  1885-1886),  I,  vii.  But  in  several  poems 
the  thought  does  not  bei-onie  apparent  until  the  addition  of  the  second 
stic-hos. 

[64] 


I'lirolli Usui   in  Amos  {) 

is  liimiul  ill  a  iiu'asiirf  also  In  tlic  nsi'  of  allili-ralioii.  rli\  iiif  ami 
paralli'lisni,  ri'scrvi's  ti)  liimscll"  full  lil»'iiy  as  to  tin-  nioiii'  of 
.•ni|)loyiii^'  till"  latter,  so  that  ii.-  can  iiiiprovis.-  without  being 
uiiiliily  huinpereil.-' 

Syiionyinous  parallelism  is  ver.v  lrii|iiriii  in  Finnish  poetry. 
Countless  examples  are  to  tie  found  in  the  Kal^vala.  the  Finnish 
national  epie,  and  other  lonj^  poems :-- 

Miiny  im-n  that  live  to  iiuirimir, 

Many  wuiiieii  live  to  censure. 

Many   .speak   with   evil   motives, 
Many   they  with  wretched  voieea 

Curse   me   for   my   wreteheil   singing. 
Blame  my  tongue  for  speaking  wisilom, 

Call  my  ancient  songs  unworthy, 
Blame   the  songs  anil   curse   tho  singer. 

Be  not  thus,  my  worthy  people, 
Hlnme  me   not    for  singing  bailly: 

I'npreteniling  as  a   minstrel, 

I  have  never  had  the  teaching. 
Never   lived   with   ancient   heroes, 
Never  learned   the  tongues  of  strangers, 
Ne%-er  dainieil   to  know  much  wisdom, 

Other*  have  had  language  nmsters, 

Nature  wa.s  my  only  teacher, 
Woods  and  waters  my  instructors 

Be  this  OS  it  may,  my  people, 

Thi.s  may  point  the  way  to  others, 
To   the   singers    hetter   gifted. 

For  tho  good  of  future  ages. 
For  the  coming  generations. 
For  the  rising  folk  of  Soumi.=> 


'<  Comparetti,  p.  34.  The  u.se  of  a  regtdnr  metre  takes  the  Finnish  out 
of  the  territory  of  the  Hebrew,  for  in  the  latter,  as  will  bo  ."n-en,  the  rules 
of  metrical  formation  cannot  be  clearly  formulated. 

55  On  the  Kalevala,  see  Crawfonl,  The  Katrvatii  (New  York,  1889), 
Porter.  SrUrlinnn  from  thr  Kalrrala  (New  York,  18fiS).  S«>e  also  Paul, 
KantfMar,  die  Volkslyrik  der  Finnrn  ( HeUingfoni,  1882);  Rctzius,  and 
others. 

•^  Examples  of  synonyniou.^  ond  mixed  parallelism  arc  numerous  in  the 
Kalevala;   this  one  i.i  taken   from   AI>ercromby,  p.  2fi: 
' '  A   maiden  walked  olong  the  air  'n  edge — 
A  girl  along  the  'navel*  of  the  sky, 

[65] 


10  Pnnillrlism  in  Amos 

This  (juotatiou  shows  that  the  same  problems  which  coufront 
the  investigator  in  Hebrew  are  present  in  Finnish  poetry.  The 
dominant  characteristic  is  parallelism,  and  the  couplet  is  most 
frequent.  There  are  several  loose  -monostichs,  however;  tliere 
are  several  triplets ;  there  are  portions  which  show  no  parallelism, 
and  which  would  be  near-prose  were  it  not  for  their  stichic 
form.-*      So-called  synthetic  parallelism   is   a   frequent   accom- 


Along  tlie  outline  of  a  cloud — 

Along  the  heaven 's  boundary, 

In  stockings  of  a  bluish  hue, 

In  shoes  with  ornamented  heels. ' ' 
2*  Each  printed  line  has  at  least  a  comma  at  the  end  of  it,  due  to  the 
division  between  line  and  line  consequent  on  the  complete  idea,  or  complete 
part  of  an  idea  which  each  one  offers;  this  establishes  a  rhythmic  division 
in  the  ideas  themselves  in  their  order  and  succession,  and  this  division  is 
felt  in  direct  proportion  to  the  shortness  of  the  lines.  See  Comparetti, 
pp.  33-34.  An  example  of  this  stichic  completeness  may  be  found  in 
the  following  selection  from  the  Kalevala: 
"A  hundred  sayings  do  I  possess. 

Fastened  to  my  girdle,  to  my  ring,  to  my  side; 

Which  every  child  cannot  sing, 

Nor  every  lad  the  half  of  them. . .  . 

My  songs  are  my  learning. 

My  verses  my  goods ; 

From  the  roads  did  I  dig  them, 

From  green  boughs  did  I  pluck  them, 

I  wrenched  them  from  the  lieatlicr  plants; 

When  I  a  little  one  was  herding, 

A  little  child  was  tending  lambs. 

Up  from  the  honeymounds, 

Across  the  golden  hillocks. 

Songs  did  the  wind  waft  me. 

The  air  cradled  them  by  hundreds. 

Verses  surged  around  me. 

Sayings  rained  down  like  water. .  . . 

My  father  would  sing  them  as  he  fitted  a  new  handle  to  his  axe; 

From  my  mother  would  I  learn  them  as  her  spindle  twirled." 

Examples  of  monostichs  inserted  in  the  midst  of  good  parallelism  may  be 
founil  in  tlie  next  (|UOtation.     In  may  be  noted  that  the  number  of  incom- 
jilete,  part  stichoi   in  the  Finnish  w'hich  depend  upon  the  verb  in  another 
couplet  is  larger  than  in  Hebrew. 
' '  And  the  wind  rocked  him 


To  lands  without  a  priest. 
To  countries  unbaptised. 
Behold  me,  poor  wight. 
Tossed  on  a  rolling  tree. 
Tossed  on  a  withering  trunk.  . . 

[66] 


I'dnillt  lisDi   in  Amos  11 

paniiiUMit  of  trood  parallelism;  sim-o.  Iiowcvcr.  it  must  lie  cou- 
ffilfil  that  syiithi'tio  paralli-lism  is  not  in  nality  parallflism 
at  all.  it  iiuist  !)(•  i-oiu-IiuUhI  of  the  Finnish,  that  parallelism  is 
not  the  only,  thou-rh  it  is  perhaps  the  major,  motif  of  its  poetry; 
there  is  a  twilifjht  zone  wherein  jirose  and  poetry  meet.  This 
^'eiieral  eoneliision  drawn  from  the  Finnish  may  a.ssist  in  a 
determination  of  the  eharaeter  of  the  Hebrew. 

Antithetie  parallellism  appeai-s  in  Finnish  proverbs,  whieli 
have  '"mueh  resemblanee  in  their  form  to  those  of  Solomon."-' 
ami  frenerally  display  tiic  saiur  varieties  of  eomplete  and  of 
ineomplete  parallelism  witli  and  without  compensation.  Fin 
nish  parallelism  is  also  an  aid  in  exe<;;esis;  thougrh  the  text  has 
not  been  injured  through  transmission,  several  instances  obtain 
where  the  presence  in  a  second  stichos  of  a  synonymous  word 
serves  to  clarify  the  meaninjr  of  a  dubious  phrase  corresponding 
to  it  in  the  first. 

Among  peoples  akin  to  the  Finns,  also,  parallelism  is  found. 
Among  the  Lapps,  for  example,  influenced  by  Finnish  literature 
though  themselves  of  another  race,  the  Finno-Mongolic  magical 
songs  bear  a  slight  resemblance  in  structure  to  the  Finnish; 
while  in  the  epic  and  mythical  literature,  especially  that  relating 
to  the  "Child  of  the  Sun,'"  the  fonii  of  the  Finnish  rune  is  clearly 
recognizable  with  its  m<'tre,  alliteration,  and  parallelism  -'" 

Finnish  parallelism  has  been  responsible  for  similar  (loetry 
in  a  channel  far  removed  from  it.  Longfellow's  Hiawatha 
is  built  upon  the  Finnish  scheme.  The  poet  is  known  to  have 
derived  the  suggestion  for  its  form  from  Schiefner's  translation 
of  the  Kalevala ;  when  he  heard  the  trochaic  measure,  he  pro- 
nounce<l  it  to  be  the  one  for  the  discovery  of  which  he  had  been 
waiting  and  longing,  since  it  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  give 
expression  to  the  thoughts  surging  in  his  mind.  The  use  of 
Iiarallelism  in  the  poem  wjus  evidently  conscious  and  di-liberate. 
and  by  contrast  indicates  that  its  ajipearanee  elsewhere  in 
English  p<M-ms  is  generally  accidental,  and  irregular.-' 


"Browm,  p.  282;   Oottliind,  Dr  Proverbiig  Frnnicis   (fpsaln,  1818). 
s«Comparotti,  p.  43. 
«'  See  p.  4,  not.-  10. 

[67] 


12  raraUelLsiii  in  Amos 

__Hiawatha  possesses  the  same  style  and  also  the  same  problems 
as  Finnish  parallelism,  namely,  the  relation  of  single  lines, 
couplets  and  triplets,  the  interplay  of  prose  and  poetry,  and 
the  stichie  division  of  lines.  The  couplet  form  is  frequent, 
though  not  constant  over  long  tracts  of  text ;  sometimes  two  lines 
are  necessary  to  complete  merely  one  thought,  while  each  stichos 
does  not  have  the  necessary  half-though  of  a  good  couplet: 

Suddenly  upon  the  greensward 
All  alone  stood  Hiawatha.^s 

Moreover  exact  synonymity  is  rare  over  long  periods  in  the 
poem,  even  when  the  couplet  form  recurs;  the  second  stichos 
usually  adds  much  to  the  thought  of  the  first ;  most  of  the  lines 
and  distichs  fall  within  the  field  of  synthetic  parallelism.  But 
examples  of  regular  parallelistic  structure  can  be  found : 

All  your  strength  is  in  your  union 

All  your  danger  is  in  discord ; 

Therefore  be  at  peace  henceforward, 
And  as  brothers  live  together.  . .  . 

Big  words  do  not  smite  like  war -clubs, 
Boastful  breath  is  not  a  bow-string, 
Taunts  are  not  so  sharp  as  arrows, 

Deeds  are  better  things  than  words  are, 
Actions  mightier  than  boastings.23 


Chinese  P.vralleus.m 

Points  of  resemblance  between  Chinese  and  Hebrew  literature 

have   often  been   noted.      The  language   and  style   of  several 

Cantonese  love  songs  show  similarity  to  passages  in  the  Song  of 

Solomon  and  other  Hebrew  poems.'"      Far  more  striking,  how- 


2s  Cf.  Lowth's  and  Gray's  discussion  on  Ps.  2.6;  see  also  below,  p.  117. 

29  Another  example  wherein  there   is  a  variation  of  the  couplet   form, 
and  where  a  fifth  stichos  sums  up  the  thought  of  the  preceding  four: 

' '  As  unto  the  bow  the  cord  is. 

So  unto  the  man  is  ■woman ; 

Though  she  bends  him,  she  obeys  him. 

Though  she  draws  him,  yet  she  follows; 

Useless  each  without  the  other." 
The  first  couplet  with  its  introductory  conjunctions  finds  numerous  counter- 
parts in  the  l-a- '"slier  couplets  in  Hebrew;  cf.  Amos.  3.12,  5.19,  etc. 

30  dementi,  Cantonese  Love  Songs  in  English   (Oxford,  1904),  p.  6. 

[68] 


rdnilhli.tin  in  Anii>s  13 

fvcr,  is  tlu-  prt'si'MiH'  of  parallrlism  in  ('iiiiicsc  litcratiirf.  Its 
usajjc  tluMviii  was  noti'il  hy  .1.  F.  Davis,  whose  work,  I'uescos 
Sinensis  Conunrntarii,  "On  the  Poetry  of  the  Chinese,""'  lias 
beeonie  staiulanl.  Almost  every  investi-jator  of  Cliiiiese  prosody 
siiiee  1S29  has  restated  and  reaffirmed  Davis'  eonclusions."- 
Davis  remarks  that  tlie  dominant  eonstruction  of  Cliinese  poetrj- 
is  foiuul  in  "lines  of  every  li'iifjth  useil  in  mt>asnred  couplets, 
or  sentenees  in  pairs,  nieely  balaneed  in  words  and  sense."  He 
notes  the  "striking;  eoineidenee"  with  lleiin'W  poetry,  and 
adopts  the  terininolofjy  of  IJishop  Lowtli.  ^'ivin^  the  motif 
the  name  "parallelism"  and  dividinfr  it  into  three  types- 
synonymous,  antithetie  and  synthetie. 

It  is  neeessary  fii-st,  however,  to  approach  Chinese  parallilism 
from  the  viewpoint  of  its  three  ma,jor  eharaeteristic  divisions — 
parallelism  of  tone,  of  yranunar,  and  of  tliou'rht.  The  first 
two  are  iiniiiue  in  Chinese  literature,  and  present  few  points  of 
eomjiarison  with  Hebrew;  it  is  doubtful  wlielhei-  tiiey  may  be 
ineliuled  un»ler  the  name  of  |)arallelism. 

Parallelism  of  tone  demands  merely  that  the  syllables,  instead 
of  beinjr  eounted,  must  follow  eaeli  other  in  tones  that  vary 
aeeordinn  to  rule,  just  as  the  eadenee  of  En<:lish  vei-se  is  deter- 
mined not  solely  by  rhyme  and  by  enumeration  of  the  syllables, 
but  also  by  the  relative  position  of  the  aeeented  syllables  and 
those  on  whieh  no  stress  is  laid.""  Distinetion  is  made  between 
two  elasses  of  tones,  the  even  or  similar  tones,  and  the  luieven 
or  dissimilar  tarn's.  The  two  even  or  e(iual  tones  are  spoken 
with  the  siimc  stress  and  strenfrth  of  voiee  and  are  ditTerentiated 
only  by  a  variation  of  tone  levels.  The  three  unecpml  tones 
are  the  risin)?,  the  falling  and  the  eontraetiiij;,  "einpehende." 
that  is,  one  in  whieh  the  voiee  rises  upward,  or  sinks  to  the  lower 
notes,  or  the  tone  breaks  ofT  abruptly.     These  tones  or  aeeents 

SI  TransaetioM  of  the  Roi/al  .ttiatic  Society  (London,  1829),  II,  410- 
419.      Rcpubli.-thwl  in   19.14  ami   1870.      Kor  this  work  the   1829  paging   is 

USCil. 

'5  Scarborough,  finbolanti,  Ilrilinann,  Griibe,  Bcthgo,  ('hamhorlnin.  Crnn- 
mcr  Byng,  anil  (ith<T»  whoso  works  an-  citoil  l»-U>w.  Kor  thr  usf  of  par- 
allelism in  thi'  intorprotation  of  iliflii-ult  ami  cvi-n  nintilatnl  passa;;<'s  si-o 
partirularly  S«'hlogt>l.  l.ii  loi  da  pnraUeHsmc  in  utijli-  r/iiiioi*  (l>-y.|i'n,  l.S9i>). 

»i  Chamborloin,  Clti»*ical  Porlry  of  tht  Japanete  (Boston,  1880),  pp. 
3—1;  remarks  on  Chinese  poetiral  formations. 

[69] 


14  Parnllelisiii  in  Amos 

must  be  divided  according  to  definite  rules,  so  that  they  stand 
in  parallels.^*  It  will  be  seen  that  one  of  the  most  difiBciilt 
questions  in  a  classification  of  Hebrew  parallelisms  is  bound  up 
with  tlie  use  of  the  accents.  Tlie  Chinese  system  diflei-s  from 
the  Hebrew  in  several  respects,  not  the  least  important  of  which 
is  the  regularitj-  and  constancy  with  which  the  accentual  system 
is  maintained. 

A  parallelism  of  grammar  or  syntax  also  characterizes 
Chinese  poetry.  It  demands  that  the  single  words  in  two  suc- 
cessive verses  shall  correspond  exactly  not  only  according  to 
tlieir  position  in  the  .stichoi,  but  also  according  to  their  gram- 
matical and  sj-ntactical  categorj-.  For  each  noun,  pronoun,  and 
adjective  of  the  first  stichoi,  the  same  grammatical  value  must 
stand  in  the  identical  place  in  the  second : 

(On-the)   mountaiu    (the)    Sun    quickly   (towards)   the  West  sinks, 
(On-the)   sea  (the)   Moon  slowly   (towards)   the  East  rises.35 

Another  rule  a.ssists  tliis  regularity.  The  fact  that  in 
Chinese  each  word  is  indicated  Ijy  a  sign  or  character  helps  to 
bring  to  light  the  many-sided  and  changeful  correspondence  of 
the  terms  and  the  feet  of  the  stichoi ;  and  the  use  of  ideographic 
determinatives  oftentimes  of  itself  indicates  to  the  eye  the  sim- 
ilarity of  parallel  word-concepts  and  word-d  asses.  Moreover, 
the  characters  are  arranged  deliberatelj'  by  the  poet  in  artistic 
harmony.  This  de\'ice  may  be  called  parallelism  of  word-signs. 
It  is  peculiar  to  the  Chinese,  finding  no  counterpart  in  Hebrew.^" 

Parallelism  of  thought  and  figure,  however,  brings  Chinese 


3-1 ' '  Therefore  in  the  8  line  strophe  with  7  foot  verses,  the  rule  is  that 
the  unequal  syllables,  namely,  the  1st,  3rd,  5th  and  7th,  may  have  an 
optional  tone,  while  in  the  equal,  namely  the  2nd,  4th,  and  6th,  the  tones 
must  exchange  with  each  other,  so  that  when  the  2nd  syllable  has  an  equal 
or  even  tone,  the  4th  must  have  an  unequal,  the  6th  an  equal,  or  vice  versa. 
Moreover,  in  2nd  and  3rd,  4th  and  .5th,  6th  and  7th  verses,  the  corresponding 
equal  syllables  agree  exactly  in  tone,  and  the  first  verse  must  correspond 
exactly  to  the  8th.  In  five  foot  verses,  the  first  syllable  of  each  verse 
stands"  at  the  option  of  tlic  p™-t :  fnr  n1)  tin-  ntli.T-.  n  ri'-i.l  «,-lv'mn*ii-  riil.^ 
exists."        HeilmanTl,    Clr'..  \  srji.     I  i/n!     r.i..       ■."•        ,'•■'    ■/    ;      '.     '     •■.    (''•    ,    !i-x 

zur  Gegenwart   (Lciji-i^,   ll'n:,   ,   |i|,.   xwni'i,,    !,■  ,i.  .    /'  .    ,-  •      ,'       ,-- 

atur,  in   Vic  orirnlnhsri,,  „    l,,i,  y.,i „,,  „    ,l,r,|./iu      I:mi:;    .    ,,    ,;H.      >,  .     :iK(i 
below,  Scarborough's  rcm.irks  on  .'iiitithctic  paralli-lisni. 

^•■^  Gnibe,  p.  342;   Heilmann,  p.  xxvii. 

■-'■  riabelantz.  Z.  f.   ToeR-erpsych.   X   (1878),  230ff.     "It   is  worthy   of 
observation  that  out  of  this  parallelism  of  form,  the  custom  arises  often- 
times to  write  without  punctuation.      The  Greek  ahso  does  not  need  punctu- 
ation for  his  Gorgias. "     Norden,  Die  antike  Kunstprosa,  II,  8-24. 
[70] 


I'iiralhlisin   in  Amos  1;) 

ptn'trv  witliiii  tlie  same  domain  as  the  llflniw:  two  siicccssivo 
vci-scs,  ratliiT  stii'iiiii,  an-  ji)iiit'il  to-ri'thi-r  liy  a  parallilism  of 
iili'jus  or  of  Hjrurfs,  whii-li  rests  upon  tlic  i-oiuiition  citlicr  of 
similarity  or  of  opposition;  it  is  not  nun-ly  formal  or  ixtt-rnal, 
l)nt  is  internal  i)arallflism.  I'liinese  difTcrs  from  the  Hebrew 
(iiily  in  that  the  peeuliar  strueture  of  the  lan^uafre  •jenerally  and 
the  striet  observanee  of  the  law  of  syntaetie  parallelism  men- 
tioned above,  render  the  synonymity  mneh  closer  aud  more 
obvious;  it  is  usually  wt>rd  for  word,  the  one  written  opposite 
the  other: 

The   wtiito   stone,   uiifrai-turcl,   raiiks  as   most    prorious; 

The   blui-  lily,  iiiibl isheil,  emits  the  fuifst   fragraiicf. 

The  heart,  when  it  i.s  liarassoil,  finds  no  plaee  of  rest; 

Tlie  mind,  iu  the  miilst  of  t)itterness,  thinks  only  of  (jrief. 

Be  not  disoontenteil,  thou<;h  your  land   lie   narrow,  and  your   );arden 

small ; 
Be  not  distnrbed,  thongh  your  family  be  poor,  anil  your  means  con- 

traoted. 

Antitlietie  parallelism  is  a  favorite  Chinese  motif.  It  is 
eommonly  perfeet  both  in  sentiment  and  terms.  "The  Cliine.se 
is  a  stylistie  eonnois.seur  of  the  most  delieate  sensibilities,  and 
jrreatly  admires  sharp  antitheses."  The  symmetrieal  fonn. 
wherein  term  answers  for  term,  is  even  more  refriilar  than  in 
llibrew.  As  in  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  so  in  Chinese  maxims 
and  aphorisms  antitlietie  parallelism  is  used  most  extensively:''" 

With  few  oraviuK!)  of  the  heart,  the  health  i.s  flourishinf;, 
With  many  anxious'  thoughts,  the  constitution  dei-ays. 

Unsullied  poverty  is  always  happy; 
Impure  wealth  brings  many  sorrows. 

Consider  not  any  vice  as  trivial  and  therefore  practice  it. 
Regard  not  any  virtue  as  unimportant  and   therefore  neglect   it. 

Prosecuting  virtue  is  like  ascending  o  steep: 
Pursuing  vice,  like  rushing  down  a  precipice. 

It  mi^ht  be  noted  here  that  there  are  several  %..ioii.>  ui 
parallelism  in  Chinese  proverbs.  Antithetie  paralb-lism  is 
kni>wn  a.s  the  tui-tzii  and  i.s  fonned  aeeordinfr  to  strietly  teeh- 


>' Davis,    ilaximji    (London,    182.TI,    cited    on    p.    412    of    On    Portrjf   of 
Chinete. 

[71] 


16  Parallelism  In  Amos 

uieal  rules/^  Aiiotlu'i-  form  of  proverbs  wherein  antithesis  plays 
a  part  is  Uiii-chii.  or  "connected  sentences";^''  while  a  third 
class  of  parallistic  couplet-proverbs  is  composed  of  those  that 
rin-me.*" 

Antithetic  parallelism  appears  also  in  general  poetry,  where 
it  is  used  less  often  than  for  aphorisms  and  wise  sayings.  But 
it  is  found  to  exist  in  every  degree,  from  the  strong  mutual 
opposition  of  all  the  corresponding  words  in  a  couplet — the 
"complete  i)ara!lelism""  of  Gray*' — to  that  of  some  of  them — 
"incomplete  parallelism." 

Look  on  life  as  an  uncertain  guest,  tliat  cannot  remain; 

Believe  that  death  is  fixed,  and  cannot  be  escaped. 

When  tlie  region  of  the  heart  is  at  rest,  the  body  too  enjoys  ease; 
But  the  passions  being  excited,  then  disorders  of  the  body  arise. 

Supinely  gazing,  now   I   vent  my  sighs. 

Now,  bending  down,  in  tears  my  sorrow  flows; 

The  wealthy  alien  claims  connubial  ties, 
The  needy  kinsman  no  relation  kuows.*- 


3s  Scarborough,  Collection  of  Chinese  Proverbs  (Shanghai,  1875,  pp. 
x-xi).  "A  tui-tzu  may  contain  any  number  of  words,  but  the  most  fre- 
quent number  is  seven  in  each  line.  It  must  be  so  written  that  the  order 
of  the  tones  in  the  first  line  shall  be,  firstly  deflected,  secondly  even,  and 
thirdly  deflected;  in  the  second  line,  firstly  even,  secondly  deflected,  and 
thirdly  even,  or  vice-versa.  Should  the  first,  third  or  fifth  characters 
violate  this  rule,  it  is  of  no  consequence;  the  second,  fourth,  and  the  sixth 
cannot  be  allowed  to  do  so.  It  is  essential  also  that  the  last  character 
in  the  first  line  should  be  in  a  deflected  tone,  and  the  last  in  the  second 
line,  in  an  even  tone.  The  same  characters  may  not  be  repeated  in  either 
line,  and  it  is  essential  that  there  should  be  an  antithesis,  as  well  in  the 
sense  as  in  the  tones,  of  the  words  composing  the  two  lines  of  the  couplet. 
It  is  also  a  rule  that  particles  must  be  placed  in  antithesis  to  particles; 
and  nouns,  verbs,  etc.,  to  nouns,  verbs,  etc." 

39  The  proverbs  of  the  class  of  "connected  sentences"  are  very  plenti- 
ful ;  they  are  of  various  lengths,  of  different  styles  of  composition,  and 
are  informal  in  all  else  but  the  corresponding  number  of  words  in  each 
line.  There  is  generally  a  sharp  antitliesis  between  the  first  an<l  second 
lines : 

' '  The  poor  must  not  quarrel  with  the  rich ; 

Nor  the  rich  with  magistrates. ' ' 
"It  is  not  hard  to  talk  about  good  works. 
But  to  do  them." 
Compare  on  this  last  example,  Amos  9.12b. 

■»!>  The  couplet-proverbs  which  rhyme  are  detected  only  by  the  native 
ear.  The  explanation  of  this  is  that  in  order  to  rliyme  to  a  native  ear, 
the  tones  must  correspond. 

41  See  below,  in  chapter  on  Parallelism  in  Amos,  p.  81. 

*2  It  is  imperative  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  are  translations;  as  in 
Hebrew  the  parallelism  is  evident  through  the  translations;  but  tlie  .savor 
of  the  original  cannot  be  retained. 

[72] 


I'lirallt  Usui   in  Amos  17 

Sviitliilic  |>aiall.lisiii  is  tin-  must  .■oniiiinji  spici.s  in  Cliiiics.- 
poetry,  lli'iv,  as  in  llclirt'W,  each  word  antl  line  does  not  i-xai-tly 
answer  to  its  fellow  as  either  eqiiivah-nt  or  opposite  in  sense; 
l>ut  there  is  u  marked  eorrespoiideiiee  and  etiuality  in  the  eon- 
sfrnetion  of  the  lines,  sueii  iLs  nouns  iinsweriny:  to  nouns,  verb  to 
verh.  niend)er  to  member,  ne<rative  to  nejrative,  interrojjative  to 
interrofjative.  As  in  Hebrew,  synonymous  and  antithetic  par- 
allelisms are  generally  aeeompanied  by  syiithetie,  and  are  rarely 
fouiiil  without  it;  eorrespondenee  of  eonstruetion  even  stands 
alone  without  eorrespondenee  in  e(|uivaleney  or  opi)osition. 
Synthetic  i)arallelism  jiervades  Chinese  poetry  universally  and 
forms  its  foremost  characteristic  feature;  it  is  the  source  of  much 
■"artificial  beauty."  It  also  jirescnts  difficult  problems  of 
prosody;  and  there  is  doubt  whether  it  deserves  ela.ssifieation 
as  a  branch  of  parallelism. 

Thus  alone  and  dauntlr.Ms  he  walked — all  oonfidcnt  in  liis  courage; 

Tims  proud  and  reserved — he  must  neods  possess  high  talents, 

Couragi' — as  if  Tszeloong,  the  hero,  had  re-appeare<l  in  the  world ; 

Talents — as  though  Lepili,  the  poet  had  again  been  born. 

A  hundred — a   thousand — ten   thousand  projects  are  hard   to  accom- 
plish. 
Five  times — six  times — ten  years  very  soon  arrive. 
When  you  have  found  a  day  to  be  idle — be  idle  for  a  day: 
Wlien  you  have  met  with  three  cups  to  drink — then  drink  your  three 
cups," 

The  point  at  which  .synthetic  parallelism  shades  into  prose, 
and  deserves  tiie  appellation  "near-prose,"  is  as  tincertain  as 
in  Hebrew.  For  this  constructional  parallelism  of  sentences 
.  e.xtiiids  to  prose  compositions  and  is  freipient  in  fine  writiufr. 
u-tiiTchanij,  wliich  is  a  measured  jirose,  though  not  written  line 
beside  line  like  poetry;  if  savoi-s  somewhat  of  Arabic  rhymed- 
prose,  though  it  employs  no  rhyme.  Indeed,  synonymous,  an- 
tithetic, and  constructive  parallelisms  are  met  with  occasionally 
in  ever}-  description  of  writing  that  rises  above  the  style  of 
mere  conversation  or  narrative.  Davis  (piotes  the  following 
prose  sentence  ns  an  instance  wherein  coincidence  of  sentence 


S"^-^' 


"  This  suggests  the  alternate  paralIeli.^m  of  the  Hebrew.  These  ex- 
ampb'n  are  taken  from  the  po<-m  of  The  Fortunate  fnion.  citeil  by  Davis, 
and   from  t"ranmer  Byng,  .-1   ^>(iji(   of  Lantrrim   (London,   ISltii,  p.  .31. 

[73] 


and  a  hint  of  parallelism  occur;  it  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that 
three  and  not  two  parts,  or  stichoi,  are  present : 

The  liighest  order  of  men  (called  Shing,  perfect  or  inspired)  are  vir- 
tuous, or  wise,  independently  of  instruction;  the  middle  class  of  men  {Heen, 
good  or  moral)  are  so  after  instruction;  the  lowest  order  (Tu.  stupid  or 
worthless)   are  vicious  in  spite  of  instruction. 

Another  question  arises  with  reference  to  the  unit  of  Chinese 
parallelism.  The  couplet,  as  in  Hebrew,  seems  to  be  the  funda- 
mental form.  "This  may  be  accounted  for  by  th&  fact  that 
couplet  making  is  a  favorite  amusement  of  the  educated  cla.sses 
and  that  couplets  when  well  turned,  are  objects  of  their  intense 
admiration.""  Dodd  holds  that  the  poem  of  four  lines  which 
had  its  vogue  from  699  a.d.  is  the  unit  of  Chinese  poetry.^^ 
But  in  the  majority  of  poems  the  authors  leave  sufficient  space 
between  pairs  of  lines  to  indicate  that  they  intended  couplet- 
groupings  ;  often,  however,  the  series  is  in  fours.*"  Though  this 
point  has  not  yet  apparently  been  emphasized  in  a  discussion 
of  Chinese  poetry,  it  may  be  stated  in  view  of  the  majority  of 
distich  formations  that  the  basic  unit  of  even  the  four-line 
poems,  and  of  Chinese  poems  in  general,  is  the  couplet.*' 

The  use  of  parallelism  in  Chinese  offers  additional  evidence 
relative    to    the    origin    and    age    of    parallelism.      The    oldest 

n  ' '  Tlie  Chinese  are  so  fond  of  their  parallelisms  that  tlie  most  com- 
mon decorations  of  rooms,  halls  and  temples,  are  ornamented  labels  hung 
opposite  to  each  other,  or  side  by  side,  and  called  Tuy-leen,  which  has 
precisely  the  meaning  of  the  English  term.  These  are  sometimes  inscribed 
on  coloured  paper,  sometimes  carved  on  wood,  and  distinguished  by  paint- 
ing and  gilding,  but  always  in  pairs."    Davis,  p.  418. 

*^  Chinese  Poems  (London,  1912),  p.  21,  in  remarks  on  "Technique  of 
Chinese  Poetry. ' ' 

*«  Bethge,  Die  chinrsisvlie  Flocte  (Leipzig,  1910). 

i'  A  suggestion  of  a  form  in  Chinese  poetry  similar  to  the  long  swing- 
ing lines  of  Arabic  rhymed  prose  minus  the  rhyme,  and  similar  to  several 
lines  in  Amos  3.12,  etc.,  may  be  found  in  the  following  instances: 

' '  From  the  Pine  Forest  the  azure  dragon  ascends  to  the  Milky  Way ; 
From   the   Dryandra   cordata,   the   crimson   phoenix   aspires    to    the 
borders  of  the  variegated  clouds. ' ' 
' '  Experience   and   discernment   of   the   human    passions   may   both   be 
called  learning; 
Deep  and  clear  insight  into  the  ways  of  the  world  also  constitute 
subtle  genius. ' ' 
' '  Fame  and  ambition  themselves  must  have  their  intervals  of  repose ; 
Retirement    and    leisure    are,    after    all,    preferable    to    labor    and 
anxiety. ' ' 
There  is  the  same  correspondence  of  terms  found  in  Arabic  rhymed  prose, 
and   in   several   Hebrew   passages;    these   passages   seem    to   hover   near    the 
edge   of   prose. 

[74] 


runillilixiii  ill  Amos  19 

iiiithiiitif  (locniiii'iits  of  Cliiiicsi'  poetry  in  which  |iaralhlisiii 
a|)|ifai-s  arc  supposed  to  be  nearly  three  tlionsaiui  years  old. 
and  even  tlien  the  paralhlisni  was  so  intrieately  (h-veh)ped  that 
it  can  Inirdly  be  ealled  a  primitive  system.  "In  no  otlier  lan- 
^'initrf  eould  parallelism  be  curried  to  sneh  heitilits  as  in  ("liine.se; 
the  exaet  e(|nality  in  the  number  of  words  whieh  form  each  line 
of  a  poetieal  eouplet,  and  the  almost  total  ab.scnee  of  rceiirrinfr 
l>artiel(s  that  eneumber  European  lanjruagi's,  admit  of  its  adop- 
tion with  peculiar  otTeet"  and  its  maintenanec  despite  the  rise 
of  metre  and  rhyme.  The  ipiestioii  needs  analysis  and  earefnl 
eonsideration  to  determine  whether  sueli  parallelism  represent.s 
relatively  a  lower  form  of  poetieal  evohition  than  the  numerous 
forms  of  Islamie  poetry  and  of  moilern  literature. 

Japanese  poetry,  elosely  akin  to  Chine.se,  betrays  a  rather 
freipient  parallelism,  but  follows  no  refridar  method."  Its 
essential  rule  is  that  every  poem  must  consist  of  alternate  lini's 
of  five  and  seven  syllables,  with  generally  an  extra  line  of  .seven 
syllables  to  nuirk  its  close.  The  parallelism  used  in  Japanese 
pfK-try  a.s  an  occasional  ornament,  sugrjrests  the  use  of  the  un- 
rhymed  trochaic  measure  of  Hiawatha,  whieh  seems  calculated 
to  (live  such  parallel  verses  their  due  etTect.*"  Examples  of 
Japamse  parallelism  are  found  scattered  through  many  poems: 
I  fiill  liiT  every  <lay,  till  daylight  failcs  awny, 
I  call  her  overy  night,  till  dawn  restoroa  the  light."'" 

All  the  mighty  goil.s  a.-wombled, 
All  tho  mighty  gods  held  counoil, 
Thousand   myriads   held   high   ooiiueil.  . . . 

O'er  the  middle  lantl  of  Rmdplnins, 
O'er  the  land  of  waving  Rice-Gelds. '•' 

perhaps  it  was  throujrh  the  influenee  .if  the  Chinese  that 
parallelism  crept  into  the  Japanese;  it  may  be,  however,  that  the 
universal  tendency  towards  some  fonn  of  symmetrical  structure, 
despite  the  a.symmetrical  nature  of  Japanese  poetry,  dictated 
its  appearance  therein. 


■  Chamlx'riain,  p.  3. 

'  Se<-  remark.i  on   Finni.<ih  po«>try,  p.  8,  and  on   Hiawatha,  p. 

'  niamhorlain.  p.  iJO;    He  anil  ."^he;  Song. 

1  Ibid.,  Elegy  on  the  ileath  of  I'rince  Hinami   (fi89  .v.D. ),  p. 

f75] 


l'(ir(inflisiii  i)i  A)iios 


XEAR-EASTERN  PARALLELISM 
Egyptian  Parallelism 


The  similarity  of  Efryptian  to  Hebrew  poetrj-  has  beeu  noted 
by  several  investigators ;  so  close  is  the  affinity  that  the  lay 
reader  who  meets  with  skilful  translations  of  Egj'ptian  poems 
will  immediately  associate  them  with  biblical  productions  f-  they 
are  wholly  unlike  those  of  the  majority  of  the  western  nations.^^ 
Though  the  history  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  was  written  in  a  dry 
and  uninteresting  style,  the  poetry  was  more  highly  advanced  f* 
it  will  be  seen,  however,  that  in  general  even  the  poetical  compo- 
sitions were  restricted  in  scope  and  variety,  and  that' they  failed 
to  attain  the  standards  not  only  of  Indo-Germanic  peoples,  bvit 
also  of  other  Semitic  peoples.  For  this  relative  sterility,  the 
antiquity  of  Egyptian  poetry  is  responsible.^'  Its  beginnings 
are  lost  in  the  mists  of  the  pa.st;  though  the  oldest  monuments 
betray  the  existence  of  a  literature  fairly  I'ich  in  images  and 
language,  it  bears  the  stamp  of  primitive  origins.  Hence  is  it 
valuable  in  a  comparative  study  of  the  historical  background  of 
Hebrew  and  other  Semitic  poetry. 


52  Ebers.  "Alliteration  u.  Reim  in  Altaegyptischen, "  Nord  uiid  Sued, 
I,  106.  "The  oM  Egyptian  can  be  compared  with  the  Hebrew  text  minus 
punctuation";  also,  "Der  Klang  d.  Altaegyptischen  u.  d.  Reim,"  Z.  f. 
Aeg.  Sprache,  XV   (1877),  p.  43. 

53  Budge,  Literature  of  the  Ancient  Effijptians   (London,  1914),  p.  241. 
5-1  Stern,   Records    of   Past,    VI,    127;    Rawlinson,    Histoni    of    Ancient 

Egypt,  I,  132-133. 

r.n  Egyptian  poetry  soon  became  the  victim  of  fixed  laws,  which  com- 
jircsscil  it  into  an  immovable  mould.  The  conservatism  of  the  Orient 
restrained  free  expansion.  See  Wiedemann,  "Die  Anfaenge  dramatischer 
I'oesie  im  alten  Aegypten,"  Melanges  Nicole  (Geneva,  1905),  p.  562. 
In  Mahaffy,  Prolegomena  to  Ancient  History  (London,  1871),  p.  411,  the 
following  strictures  on  Egyptian  literary  style  occur :  ' '  An  honest  critic 
umst  therefore  confess  that  a  sense  of  form  in  literature,  such  as  the 
Greeks  possessed  so  perfectly,  is  almost  totally  absent  from  Egyptian 
writings.  Its  symmetry  consists  in  wearisome  repetitions  of  formulae, 
while  the  poetry  is  a  clumsy  parallelism  which  so  frequently  wearies  in 
Hebrew,  but  which  is  so  often  there,  though  seldom  in  Egyptian  WTitings, 
the  vehicle  for  striking  effects.  This  absence  of  form  is  not  a  shock  in 
the  everyday  letters  or  documents  of  judicial  character,  etc.,  but  when 
we  turn  to  the  properly  poetical  or  more  especially  those  which  treat  of 
noble  subjects  we  feel  a  very  great  inadequacy  of  the  expression  as  com- 
pared with  the  thought. ' ' 


[76] 


raralltlism   in  Amus  21 

Mi'tn-  exists  in  Etryiitian  iiocnis;  tlu'  sliin't  vrrsis  intn  whicli 
llic  piK'nis  fall  sfi-m  to  indicate  tiiis;  since,  however,  only  the 
consonants  anil  not  the  vowels  are  known,  it  is  impossible  to 
state  the  character  of  this  metre.'"  A  favorite  device  of  old 
Kjryptian  is  alliteration,  a  trait  apparent  in  ainiost  all  early 
literatures. "■  Khyme  also  is  present;  this  is  imt  a  rcjjular  re- 
current rhyme  jit  tin-  end  of  the  vei-scs,  hut  an  ornament  of 
poetical  siiecch  introduced  hccaiise  of  the  pleasiu'r  character  of 
similar  musical  sounds,  and  the  desire  to  brinp  into  hannoiiy  the 
sound  of  the  poetry  and  its  sen.se.  The  rhymes  occur  imistly  in 
the  mairical,  never  in  the  narrative  texts.'^" 

Perhaps  the  earliest  stage  of  Egyptian  poetry  was  rejietition. 
It  abounds  in  identity  of  phrase  and  sound,  both  throughout 
complete  sentences  and  in  the  opening  and  closing  words  of  a 
line.  These  repetitions  must  have  comforted  the  Egyptian 
though  they  irritate  the  niodeni  ear.  The  custom  became  so 
jiopular  that  it  finally  was  fixed  as  a  law  of  poetry;  a  thought 
which  in  modern  piM'try  is  expre.s.sed  merely  through  the  verb, 
received  in  Egyptian  its  linguistic  expre.ssion  through  the  repe- 
tition of  identical,  or  similar  roots,  first  as  a  verb,  then  as 
a  noun.'"  This  repetition,  which  at  first  nia\-  have  been 
nuiintained  in  exactly  the  .same  words  and  forms  over  long 
periods  of  te.xt,  both  in  magical  formulas,  .songs,  incantations, 
and  in  prayers,  later  was  varied  and  became  incremental  repe- 
tition; this  incn-mental  repetition,  wherein  part  of  the  line  was 
repeated,  but  either  the  end  or  the  beginning  was  changed, 
contained  the  seed  of  parallelism  in  the  same  way  that  the 
repetition  of  the  introductory  or  closing  words  of  a  vei-se  was 


s"  Erman,  Die  orffyptitche  Liicratur  in  Die  oricntalischrn  Litrraturen 
(Loipzig,  1906),  p.  29. 

s' S^fo  Ebors,  Alliteration,  citeti  above;  also  Ebcrs,  "Ein  Strophisch- 
niiKeorilnctor  Text  von  einer  Mumicnbin.le,"  X.  f.  Aeg.  Spr.,  XVI  (1878), 
p.  .")0-51,  (fives  mimorous  examples  of  alliteration. 

5"  8oc  Eliers,  "Der  Klang,"  p.  4.'). 

5»  The  poot  does  not  say,  "I  smell,"  but  "I  smell  the  oilor, "  or  still 
bettor,  "my  nose  .smells  the  odor."  Reiteration  is  foiiml  on  every  siilc 
in  Egyptian  literature:  .we  the  S<<pu!chrnl  Inseription  of  I'anhesi,  wherein 
phrases  descriptive  of  the  Sun  Ooil 's  triumphal  progress  through  heaven 
are  heaped  up  interminably;  Stern,  XII.  13S;  Lilann  nf  Ko,  VIII,  103, 
119,  ete.;  Wiedemann,  Rrliffion  of  the  Ancient  Et/yptiann  (Loudon,  1897), 
p.   44. 

177) 


22  PuraUHisin  in  Awos 

the  foundation  for  rhyme.""  Egyptian  and,  as  will  be  seen, 
Babylonian- Assyrian  and  Sumerian  poetry  afford  substantiation 
iu  the  tield  of  Semitic  literatures  for  the  theory  that  the  chron- 
ological evolution  of  poetry  is  first,  repetition,  or  reiteration ; 
second,  incremental  repetition,  and  third,  parallelism. 

Egyptian  poetry  uses  all  three  devices,  particularly  the  last- 
named.  Its  parallelism  is  '"uralt"''^  and  dominates  Egyptian 
literature:  "Wherever  an  Egyptian  speaks  in  elevated  style,  the 
parallelism  shows  itself  infallibly."  The  poetry  delighted  in 
synonyms  and  antitheses;  it  even  transcended  Hebrew  in  its 
"rhythmic  arrangements,  in  the  balance  of  lines,  the  close  cor- 
respondence of  clause  to  clause  and  the  strict  observance  of 
rhythmic  laws.""-  Breasted  affirms,  indeed,  that  parallelism 
is  the  usual  form  of  Egyptian  poetry."^ 

A  special  mechanical  device  distinguishes  this  poetry :  red 
points  stand  at  the  end  of  each  verse  and  mark  the  stichoi  which 
are  combined  into  couplets,  triplets,  or  still  larger  groups.  In 
hymns  to  the  gods,  in  songs  of  praise  which  celebrate  the  deeds 
of  kings,  and  in  similar  compositions  in  hieroglyphic  script,  the 
stichoi  are  clearly  divided ;  while  in  papyri  in  hieratic  script  the 
verse  division  tlirough  the  red  dots  serves  to  show  the  chain 
of  parallelism;  the  stichoi  themselves  are  as  patent  as  in  the 
book  of  Job.  These  red  dots  function  also  as  musical  marks 
for  till'  support  of  the  reciter  or  the  singer.''*  They  are  not 
always  emjiloyed,  however,  in  poetry :  the  Dirge  of  Menephtah 
is  not  divided  b.y  red  dots,  although  it  is  clearly  poetic  in  style.'^' 

While  nothing  seems  to  be  present  in  Egyptian  comparable 
to  the  horizontal  lines  whicli  in  Assyrian-Babylonian  parallelism 
mark    off   tlie    couplets,    rubric    writing    helps    to    mark    off   the 

eoEbers,  AUitcmlion,  I,  110. 

61  Erman,  op.  cit.,  p.  29. 

62  Stern,  VI,  127. 

OS  Biblical  World,  I,  55. 

64  The  red  points  are  referred  to  often  in  works  on  Egyptian  litera- 
ture: Spiegelberg,  "Der  Siegeshymnua  des  Merneptah, "  Z.  f.  Aeg.  Spr.. 
XXXIV  (1896),  p.  Iff.,  illus.,  p.  10;  Erman,  "Gebete  eines  ungerecht  Ver- 
folgten  u.  andere  Ostiake,"  Z.  f.  Aeg.  Spr.,  XXXVIII  (1900),  p.  19ff.; 
Turajeff,  "  Zwei  Hymnen  an  Thoth,"  Z.  f.  Acg.  Spr.,  XXXIII  (1895), 
p.  120ff.  The  red  dots  in  this  poem  do  not  stand  above  the  line  as  else- 
where; Cook,  "Hymn  to  the  Nile,"  Sec.  of  Past.  IV,  105ff. 

0=  Birch,  "Dirge  of  Menephtah,"  Sec.  of  Pa.it.  IV,  491¥. 

178  1 


i;irall,lis„i  in  Amos  2:i 

stiiiizas;  anil  tlu'  n-jrular  format  ion  of  nuuuTinis  poems  points 
to  tlu'  use  of  ri'jfular  stropliic  arranficmi-nts  in  ancient  E;;yptian 
poems.  Between  the  various  stanzas,  tliere  is  rarely  mueli  inter- 
parallelisni,  tlioujrli  there  is  mueh  repetition  anil  parallelism 
within  the  confines  of  eaeh  strophe.""  Several  poems  eharaeter- 
izeil  by  stanzas  ilo  not  show  completely  rcfjular  form;  the  number 
of  lines  in  each  varies  widely.  The  Hymn  to  the  Nile  contains 
fourteen  stanzas,  of  ten  stichoi  each  on  the  averajje,  but  the 
number  of  lines  ranges  from  eight  to  fourteen."" 

Examples  of  the  various  types  of  parallelism  are  abundant. 
Synonymous  parallelism  occurs  oftentimes  over  long  stretches, 
though  it  appeal's  most  fre(iuently  in  a  mixture  of  the  several 
types.  One  of  the  Hmst  and  longest  hymns  betraying  parallel- 
ism is  the  Hymn  to  Anion  Ra  which  hits  come  down  frMn  the 
TweMtieth  Dynasty;""  the  parallelism  here  suggests  the  Hebrew, 
but  is  not  thoroughly  maintained  and  is  subject  to  gieat  laxity. 
Lonl  of  I'ow.^r,  lie  si-izctli  tlio  so.-ptro, 
Loril  of  I'rotootioii  who  liuldotli  the  si'oiirgc. .  . . 

He  rastoth  down  his  enemies  by  (lames  of  lire, 
His  eye  it  is  which  overthroweth  the  wickotl. 

The  one  is  he  who  forms  the  existent, 

The  sole  one  is  he  who  fashions  the  substance. 

Men  went  forth  from  his  eyes; 

Gods  aro.He  at  the  eonimnnd  of  his  lips. 


«»  The  Hymn  to  Anion-Ra  falls  into  live  unc<|iiul  parts,  ami  tlie  .strophes 
are  shown  by  the  rubrics.  S<"c  Stern,  /.  /.  Arff.  .S/'r.  (1873),  \>.  7ti.  Kbors, 
ihid.,  XV,  ."il,  says  that  the  te.xt  falls  into  three  sections,  ilivi.lcil  by  an 
external  sign,  ami  that  each  part  contains  live  .sections.  Strophic  formation 
is  also  founil  in  El)crs,  "  Eiu  strophiscli-nnjjconlncter  Text  von  cincr 
Mumienbimle,"  Z.  f.  Aetj.  Spr.,  XVI  (1878),  pp.  '>0-r>'<.  See  Wiedemann, 
in  Sl^liiiiptu  Xicolf,  pp.  3t!9-.')70,  on  strophe  and  dance. 

"■  Cook,  loc.  fit.  In  this  poem,  the  first  word  of  each  .strophe  is  writ- 
ten in  red  letters,  and  each  also  has  a  red  point  at  the  close.  The  number 
of  lines  in  each  of  the  fourteen  stanzas  runs  thus:  11,  8.  8,  10,  10,  8,  10, 
11,  12,  10,  9,  8,  H,  8.  Compare  number  of  lines  in  Amos  1.2-2.i"i,  below. 
The  resemblance  of  this  poem  to  several  of  the  earliest  Hebrew  poems  has 
been  pointed  out  by  Cook  in  his  /iitrorfurrion  to  the  Book  of  Psalms,  and 
\otes  on  Eiodus,  in  the  Speaker's  Commentary  on  the  Bible. 

«»8ce  Stern,  toe.  cit.;  Goodwin,  "Hymn  to  Amon-Ra,"  Rrc.  of  Past. 
II,  127(r. ;  it  is  supposed  to  date  from  the  fourteenth  century  B.C.  (Ebers, 
/.  /.  Arff.  Spr.,  XV,  4.i).  For  other  examples  see  "The  Stele  of  Bcka," 
Kee.  of  Past,  X.  7;  "The  Foundation  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  of  Heli- 
opolis,"  ibid.,  Xir,  .ilfT.;  Breasted,  .4ncient  Ileeords  of  Egypt  (Chicago, 
lOOrt),  4  vol.s.,  passim. 


24  I'arallrlisiii  in  Amos 

An  cxampli'  of  a  poiin  from  the  Old   Kingdom    (third  milli'ii- 
nium  B.C.)  follows: 

No  beggar  was  tliere  in  my  days; 
No  hungry  in  my  time. 

The  Song  of  the  Harper,  composed  in  the  Eighteenth  Dj'nasty, 
is  "very  remarkable  for  the  form  of  old  Egyptian  poetry  which 
like  that  of  the  Hebrew  delights  in  a  sublimer  language,  in 
parallelisms  and  antitheses,  and  in  the  ornament  of  a  burden"; 
it  seems  to  be  rhythmic,  having  verses  of  equal  length ;""  exam- 
ples taken  from  it  at  random,  even  through  a  rhymed  translation, 
show  the  parallelism : 

As  Ra  rises  up  every  morn, 

And  Turn  every  evening  doth  set, 

So  women  conceive  and  bring  forth, 
And  men  witliout  ceasing  beget, 

Each  soul  in  its  turn  draweth  breath. 
Each  man  born  of  woman  sees  Death."" 

Examples  of  antithetic  parallelism  are  frequent : 
His  hands  reward  those  whom  he  cherishes, 
But  his  enemy  he  plunges  into  the  flames.'i 

Ra  is  miglity,  weak  are  the  godless, 
Ra  is  exalted,  lowly  are  the  godless. 

Synthetic  parallelism  is  most  frequent  in  Egyptian  as  in  all 
other  literatures  in  which  the  paralldistic  motif  is  current, 
though  often  fairly  elosi-  synonymity  is  i)rcscnt.  The  follow- 
ing example  gives  evidence  of  the  interplay  of  couplet  and  triplet 
formation,  while  monostichs  are  also  at  hand : 

«i>  Stern,  VI,  127.  The  length  of  tlie  verses  can  be  seen  from  this 
transliteration : 

Urrd  tirui  pii   ma 
Ta  xhdu  iicfir  llwpcr 
Khrli,  hrr  s-rhl  trr  rel-  Sa 
Jamau  Jur  at  r  n.s'/-.<;r». 
See  also  Stern,  Z.  f.  Arg.  Sjir.,  XI  (1873),  p.  58ff.:  Duemichen.  Historisclie 
Inschriftcn,  II,  40;  and  others,  among  them  Brugsch    (see  below). 
''0  Rawlinson,  I,  143. 


[80] 


25 


Honor  his  iiiajo»ty  in  your  hearts, 

He  is  "Sa"  of  the  lioarts, 
His  eyes  scuri-h  cnoli  body, 

He  is  the  sun  who  sees  with  his  rays, 

He  ilUiniinates  the  two  lamls  with  the  sumlisk, 

Ho  makes  venlaiit  more  than  the  great  Nile, 
He  fills  the  two  lands  with  strenifth, 

He  is  the  life  which  eools  the  nostrils, 

Ho  gives  food  to  those  who  are  in  his  train. 
He   nourishes  those   who   follow   his  way. 

He  it  is  who  causes  what  is, 
.  He  is  the  C'hnum  of  each  body.^-' 
Ajra'm  : 

How  gentle  is  this  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
How   beautiful   is  this  before  the  (;o<ls. 

Thou  makest  mountains  of  Osiris, 

Thou  adornest  him  who  is  before  the  dwellers  of  the  West. 

Excellent  for  his  deeds. 

Mighty  in  the  naming  of  his  name. . . . 

I  gave  the  priests  to  know  what  concerned  them, 
I  put  right  the  ignorant  of  his  ignorance. 

I  strengthen  who  were  in  terror, 
I  thrust  back  the  evil   from  them." 

Tlioiiph  the  .synonymity  and  uorrcsponiltMicf  of  terms  i.s  close 
here,  other  pa-s-sagres  could  be  cited  wherein  the  .same  species  of 
eonsfnictive  distich  formation  as  in  Hebrew  obtains. 

The  <int.stion  of  synthetic  parallelism  bears  npon  the  relation 
of  Egyptian  prose  to  poetry.  The  transition  from  one  to  the 
other  .seems  to  have  been  ea.sy  because  of  the  looseness  of  Egyp- 
tian poetic  structure.  In  a  discus-sion  of  the  hymns,  Lcfcburc 
has  remarked:''  "The  Egyptians  cared  little  for  the  composition 
of  their  poems;   instead  of  proupinjr  the  details  to  produce  a 


"Translated     by     Brea-sted,     liiblical     U'ortd.     I,     ",.        Compare     Ps 
146.6-10. 

•  '  Ibid.,  Hymn  found  in  the  Temple  of  Osiris  at  Abydos. 

T«  Trndiiclion  eomparfe  des  hymnm  nu  milril  (Paris,  1868),  p.  15. 

[81] 


26  Paralhlisin  in  Amos 

desired  effect,  they  made  scarcely  any  effort  to  combine  them 
in  anj-  order ;  they  follow  the  whims  of  the  feeling  and  memory. ' ' 
Psychologically  such  stjiistic  transition  may  perhaps  be  related 
to  another  unaccountable  peculiarity  in  Egyptian  style,  the 
practice  of  abrupt  changes  from  the  first  or  second  to  the  third 
person,  with  as  sudden  a  return  from  the  third  to  the  fii-st  or 
second,  and  an  equally  abrupt  change  of  tense. '°  It  is  supposed 
that  these  startling  transitions  for  which  no  discernible  reason 
has  been  discovered,  were  viewed  as  elegances  of  style  according 
to  Egj-ptian  taste.  The.v  occur  largely  in  the  more  ambitious 
literary  flights,  and  may  have  been  a  trait  of  the  "fine  writers."' 
Mahaffy  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  loose  and  haphazard  character 
of  Egyptian  poetical  construction  may  be  a  key  to  similar  loose- 
ness in  the  Hebrew.  He  sees  in  Egyptian  a.s  in  Hebrew  com- 
positions, the  first  step  towards  a  loose  blank  verse  and  irregular 
caesuras.  "These  cadences  are  not  necessary,  but  only  occur 
whi'u  the  author  warms  to  his  subject,  just  as  the  Hebrew 
authors  pass  from  prose  to  poetry,  a  feature  common  to  Indian 
and  Chinese  plays  also."'"  Mahaffy  may  err  in  viewing  par- 
allelism a.s  a  stage  prior  to  blank  verse;  it  may  be  immediately 
prior  to  the  unrhymed  saj'  of  the  Arabic,  or  also  preliminary 
to  rhymed  and  even  strictly  metrical  verses,  as  Arabic  poetry 
seems  to  demonstrate."  The  erratic  character  of  Egyptian 
parallelism  raises  another  question:  Was  parallelism  an  in- 
stinctive or  a  cultivated  mofif  among  Egyptian  poets?  Psycho- 
logically it  has  been  noted  tliat  a  high  state  of  lyric  exaltation 
tends  to  produce  balance  and  rhytliniic  repetition  of  thought. 
In  Hebrew,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  prophetic  parallelism  is  at 
once  apparently  spontaneous  and  carefully  chiselled.  In  Egyp- 
tian, it  is  probable  that  the  poetry,  being  nearer  to  its  primitive 
origins,  embodies  more  of  the  unconscious  element :  it  is  difficult, 
however,  to  believe  that  in  the  well  coordinated  hymns  and 
songs  of  praise,  no  deliberate  artifice  entered.  It  may  be  con- 
eluded'  tlien  that   Egyptian  parallelism  has  emerged  from  the 


T5  Birch,  Sec.  of  Past.  II,  ii. 
■e  Mahaffy,  p.  412. 

""  See  belo^v,  on  the  relation   of  rh_\-med  prose  to   Hebreiv  parallelism, 
ad  to  later  Arabic  metres. 

[82] 


rurallilistn  in  Amos  27 

instinctive  stapi',  ami  has  profrressml  alonfr  the  seale  of  pcietieal 
(•volution  towards  the  tinisheil  anil  iritrieate  Hebrew  paralli-l- 
isni.''" 

At  any  rate,  in  the  late  E^ryptian  jjoetry  of  the  (ireek-Huinan 
period  .lunker  has  found  well  devi-lopeil  deviees  in  a  numlu-r  of 
texts  whieh  were  hitherto  rejrarded  as  stereotyped  and  formless. 
These  small  festal  .son-rs  and  hymns  from  Dendera  show  metre, 
strophe,  and  parallelism  to  a  defrree  reaelied  in  only  a  few 
Kjryptian  eompositions.  Hefraiiis  are  present  and  responsion 
plays  an  important  role.  The  metre  seems  to  he  found  in  two, 
three,  and  four  stresses  or  aeeents,  thoujrh  it  is  diftieult  to  dis- 
cover the  laws  which  jtovern  it."" 

An  example  of  four  two-line  strophes,  with  a  two-line  refrain. 
wherein  parallelism  is  consistently  maintained,  the  verses  havin-r 
two  stresses,  is  present  in  the  following:: 
The  Pharaoh  comes  to  ilani'p. 
He  i-oiiirs  to  sing  (to  you). 

on,  his  mistkess,  see  how  he  d.kxces, 
Oh,  Bride  of  the  Horis,  see  how  he  skips. 
The  rhnraoh  whose  hands  are  washed, 
Whoso  fingers  arc  rieaii. 

Oil,  HIS  Mistress,  see  how  he  d.vnoes. 
Oh,  Bride  or  the  Horcs,  see  how  he  skips. 
When  he  sacrifices  it  to  you, 
This  miiu'vessel, 

Oh,  his  Mistress,  see  how  he  dances. 
Oh,  Bride  or  the  Horis,  see  how  he  skips. 
His  heart  is  true,  upright  his  body, 
No  darkness  is  in  his  breast, 

Oh,  his  Mistress,  see  how  he  dakces, 

Oh,  Bride  of  the  Horis,  see  how  he  skips. 

An  example  of  E<ryi)tiaii  ri'|)etition  with  incremental  changes 
is  found  in  this: 

His  nbhorrenre  is  the  sadness  of  your  Ka, 
His  nldiorrence  is  yonr  hunger  and  thirst. 
His  al)horrence  is  the  pain  of  the  SunGodilesji. 

'»  Pnrnllelisni  a.ssists  in  tlie  exegesis  of  Egt'ptinn  poetrv.  It  is  often 
eniph>Ted  for  this  piiri>os.-:  Breasted,  Pi  IUimni.1  in  .Sof.m '(Berlin,  1891), 
pp.  4-.">;  Brugs.di,  "Pas  lieilicht  voni  Hnrfeiispieler,"  /.  /.  .In;.  .'>';"■., 
XXXII   (18J)4>.  12:i-1.1»:  Spiegelberg,  Z.  f.  Ac<].  Spr.,  XXXIV   (189fi\  18. 

'•Junker,  "  I'oosie  aus  der  Spaetzeit,"  X.  f.  Acq.  S/ir.,  XLIII   (190<i), 

loirr. 


28  ParaUelisni  in  Amos 

An  example  of  a  refrain  at  the  liead  of  the  stanza,  so  that  in  a 
sense  it  becomes  a  formula,  may  be  found  liereiu : 
He  comes  to  dance, 
He  comes  to  sing, 

With  his  bread  in  his  hand. 
He  does  not  let  spoil  the  bread  on  his  hand. 
His  food  is  clean  in  his  arms. 
For  it  comes  from  the  eye  of  Horus, 
And  he  cleanses  his  sacrifice  to  you. 
He  comes  to  dance. 
He  comes  to  sing. 

His  dbh.t  is  of  twn,      ■ 

His  basket  is  of  rushes. 

His  sistrum  of  gold. 

His  mnl.t  of  southern  green  stone; 

His  feet  hurry  to  the  mistress  of  the  .iubilation, 

He  dances  for  her,  and  she  likes  what  he  does.*" 

Tlie  followinji-  is  a  Procession  Song  whicli  has  survived  in 
f ragmentaiy  form ;  it  consisted  originall.v  of  stanzas  in  each  of 
which  an  antiphonal  couplet  preceded  a  quatrain,  and  couplets 
and  quatrains  respectively  began  with  the  same  word.  Of  the 
four  parallel  verses  of  the  strophes,  the  last  three  contain  the 
explanation  and  continuation  of  the  first.  The  verses  have 
three  stresses,  excepting  the  last  of  each  strophe,  which  has 
only  two.  Junker  makes  use  of  parallelism  and  interparallelism 
to  fill  up  some  of  the  great  gaps  in  the  poem ;  though  the  parts 
which  have  survived  do  not  suffice  to  afford  a  basis  for  recon- 
struction, it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  structure  of  the  mutilated 
stanzas,  three  and  four,  agrees  with  stanzas  one  and  two.""'  This 
general  principle  is  helpful  in  a  reconstruction  of  the  Amos 
Doom  Song  on  the  basis  of  stanzas  of  equal  length  and  type. 

1.  Oh  how  fine  and  pleasant  when  the  Golden  One  thrives, 
Wlien  the  Golden  One  blooms  and  thrives. 
To  YOU  JUBILATES  the  Heaven  with  its  Gods, 
Both  Sun  and  Moon  adore  you. 
The  Gods  pay  honor  to  you. 
The  Goddesses  sing  joyfully  to  you. 

""Ibid.,  Fourth  section  of  a  song  series  in  honor  of  the  Goddess  of 
Wine,  p.  104. 

81  Ibid.,  p.  127.  As  the  song  stands,  the  third  and  fourth  stanzas 
have  three  instead  of  four  main  lines  as  in  the  first  and  second. 


[84 


runillrlism  in  Awns  29 


Oh  )iu\v 


Tii  You  jiuii.ATES  the  whole  globe; 
In  joy  nil  aiiiniiiU  ilauce; 
Ejtypt  ami  the  lamls  adoro  you, 
Evi'u  iiiito  Nfiirt  at  its  four  onds. 

3.  Oh   how        

To  YOU  jridi.ATE 

To  you  .shout  the  foreifjn  lanil.s. 

4.  Oh   how        

To  YOU  JlDii.ATK  all  men, 


SUMERIAN    I'ARAl-l.EI.ISM 


III  till'  Sumeriaii  liti'i-atiirc  which  forms  iniu'h  of  tlio  lituijiy 
of  tlie  Rabyloiiinii  religion,  paralloiisin  appoai-s/-  Tliese  Siinu'r- 
ian  texts,  some  of  wiiieii  date  baek  nearly  to  2900  i).i\.  are  similar 
in  style  to  many  Efryptiaii  eompositioiis.  The  interplay  of 
repetition,  inereinental  repetition,  and  parallelism  tends  to  plaee 
Sunurian  jioetry  low  in  the  seale  of  historical  evolution;  in  the 
character  of  its  jjarallelism,  however,  it  stands  slightly  higher 
than  the  Egyptian,  for  the  conph-t  formation  which  is  fretiiient 
ill  the  later  Hahyloniaii-Assyrian,  now  begins  to  make  itself 
clear  and  definite.'^ 

The  unending  repetitions  of  Siimerian  literature  are  perhaps 
its  most  noticeable  characteristic:  in  the  adorations,  where  terms 
of  praise  are  heaped  up,  while  the  refrains  occur  for  long  periods 
in  identically  the  stum'  words;  in  the  incantations  and  magical 
texts,  where  repetitions  arc  most  numerous;  in  the  hymns,  where 

«3  Kor  examples  of  parallelism  in  Sumerlan  literature,  see  Haupt,  "Die 
Sumerisoh  Akka.lisehe  Spraehe,"  Intern.  Oritnt.  Conp.  (Berlin,  1881)  I, 
2,  273;  VamlerbiirKh.  Summon  Hymn.i  (New  York,  1908),  pniuim.  Reis- 
ucr,  Sumrrigchf  llabiiliinurhr   Hymnrn    (Berlin,    189fi),   piiAxim. 

"  Parallelism  in  the  Sumerian  is  striking  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it 
may  bo  a  non-Semitic  languaee,  thouf^h  of  course  deeply  influenced  by 
Semitic  civilization.  Hymn  to  Adail,  Vamlerbnrnh,  p.  42.  Langilon, 
Sumrhnn  and  Babi/tnnian  Pnalma  (Paris,  1009);  al.io  Uabylonian  Litur- 
ffieti   (Paris,  1913),' p.  59. 


30  r'araUelisin  In  Amos 

iucremental  repetition  with  variation  at  tlie  beginning  or  the 
end  of  tlie  lines  is  a  regular  trait. 

The  lofty  one — -vvheii  he  belloived,  he  shattered  the  mountain, 
The  lofty  one — when  he  bellowed,  he  shattered  the  mountain, 
He  named  of  good  name — when  he  bellowed,  he  shattered  the  moun- 
tain, 
The  Recorder  of  the  Universe — when  he  bellowed,  he  shattered  the 
mountain. ^i 

Examples  of  incremental  repetition  are  plentiful.      Tlie  fol- 
lowing is  taken  from  an  incantation  witli  ethical  contents : 

Has  he  set  a  son  at  variance  with  a  father? 
Has  he  set  a  fatlier  at  variance  with  a  son? 

Has  he  .set  a  daughter  at   variance   with   a   mother? 
Has  he  set  a  mother  at   variance   with    a   daughter? 

Has  he  set  a  daughter-in-law  at  variance  with  a  mother-in-law? 
Has  he  set  a  mother-in-law   at    variance    with    a    daughter-indaw?s5 

Has  he  set  a  brother  at   variance  with  a  brother? 

Has  he  set  a  friend  at  variance  with  a  friend? 

Has  he  set  a  companion  at  variance  with  a  companion? 

Has  he  not  set  free  a  prisoner,  or  loosed  a  captive? 

Has  he  not  let  a  prisoner  see  the  light? 

Has  he  said  of  a  prisoner,  "Seize  him"  or  of  a  bondman,  "Bind 


Identical  refrains  or  endings  are  frequent;  as  in  tlie  first 
quotation  cited,  and  as  in  the  Hymn  to  Tammuz  :■" 

I  am  queen,  my  consort  abides  no  more. 

My  Damn  abides  no  more, 

Dagalushumgalanna  abides  no  more, 

The  lord  of  Aralu  abides  no  more. 

The  lord  of  Durgurgurru  abides  no  more, 

and  so  forth,  twelve  times  in  all. 

Tliough  tlie  cou]ik't  structure  and  triplet  combinations  seem 
to  adliere  at  moments  to  some  regularity,  distichs  wherein  the 
second  stichos  repeats  in  different  w(U'ds  and  varied  images  the 


S4  Rogers,    Cuneiform    Piirallels    to    the    Old    Testament     (New    York. 
12),  p.  171. 
■'^5  Note  the  inversion  here  which  the  Arabic  '  aks  employs.      See  below, 
sn  Rogers,  p.  183. 

[8<i] 


J'anillilism   in  A„i„s  31 

tli(.u<;lit  of  tho  fii-st.  aftiT  tlic  fiisliion  of  tho  olotinciil    ll.lnvw 
style,  uiv  rolrttivcly  iiirc.     llcrc  is  uii  isolated  t'xmiii>lc : 
SiiK-o  tho  vniml  is  goiio,  tlio  flood  ovorflows, 
Since  tlie  clay  is  gone,  the  shore  is  destroyed.*? 

The  (level(>|)ii»eiit  of  the  Siimeriiiii  liturjry  ajiiiears  to  have 
traverst'll  many  eeiituries.  The  nhir  orifrinaily  was  siiiin  to 
nuisieal  instniiiieiits,  and  was  marked  by  insistently  repeated 
nt'i-ains,  and  a  eertain  rhythmical  motif  which  served  to  dis- 
tinjiuisli  it  from  prose.  At  first  the  liturtrics  consisted  of  a 
single  son;!,  but  these  later  -rave  way  to  a  succession  of  shorter 
melodies.  In  early  worship,  it  appears  to  have  been  customary 
to  bow  and  sway  the  body;  perhaps  this  may  have  assisted  in 
the  development  of  a  rhythmical  distich  fonnation.  Double 
and  sinfile  lini's  served  to  mark  off  the  divisions  of  the  songs, 
but  these  have  no  relation  to  coui)let  or  strophie  divisional  marks, 
such  as  the  horizontal  lines  fomul  later  in  Babylonian-Assyrian; 
they  were  rather  musical  aids.  The  Snmerian  liturfry  seems  to 
reveal  an  etTort  towards  metre;  each  line  is  an  element  in  itself, 
perhaps  the  basis  for  the  later  usaye  both  in  the  Habylonian- 
A.s-syrian,  and  Hebrew  poetry.  Lines  were  sometimes  divided 
into  hemistiehs;  but  no  regular  system  of  prosody  api)cai-s  to 
have  existed.""  Clearly  then  the  Sumerian  literature  diserves 
reerjgnition  as  the  forerunner  of  Babylonian-As.syrian ;  but  the 
tincertainty  which  enshrouds  its  various  |)henomena  permits  only 
an  indication  of  the  direction  in  which  its  evolution  tended. 

Babylonian- Ass VKiAN  Takallelism 

The  wealth  of  material  at  hand  in  the  Babylonian-As.syriaii 
literature,  however,  nuikes  it  possible  to  lay  down  certain  general 
laws  of  poetics  and  prosody.  In  it  both  rhyme  and  alliteration 
are  u.sed.""  Metre  and  strophe  are  jiresenl,  and  will  be  dis- 
cussed below.  Of  primary  impoi-tanci-  here,  however,  is  the 
abundant  use  of  jiarallelism."" 

'I  LnnKl.  '.s.  p.   117. 

»!>  HndK' .  I    "pon    the    Fourth    Tablet    of    the    Creation 

Series,"'   /'."-/•.:.  --      .    '>-9;    t'asanowio/.,    Pamnomtixia    in    thr    Oldvn 

Timrn  (Hostoii,  151*  1,,  (..  Jl. 

<■<>  It  is  not  generally  known  that  one  of  the  first  to  note  parallelism 
in    Assrrinn-Babylonian    was   Eberhard   Sehrader    in    Die   Horllrnfuhrl    drr 

[87  1 


32  ParaUelisni  in  Amos 

The  original  iiLScriptious  of  Babylonian-Assyrian  civilization 
clearly  show  the  form  of  poetical  works,  whereas  it  has  been 
necessary  in  the  Hebrew  to  discover  it  by  direct  and  difficult 
means.  The  hymns,  praj'ers,  and  epic  poetry  are  so  written 
on  the  tablets  that  the  various  types  of  poetic  structure  at  once 
become  apparent  to  the  eye.  In  the  first  place,  each  verse  is 
written  as  one  complete  line;  these  individual  stiehoi  are  shown 
to  be  in  relation  to  the  preceding  or  following  verse  by  symmetry 
and  proximity.'" 

The  second  important  fact  in  tablet-writing  is  that  oftentimes 
two  stiehoi  of  poetry  are  marked  off  by  a  horizontal  line  from 
other  verse-pairs  or  couplets  which  are  similarly  combined. 
This  division  into  distichs  and  oftentimes  into  tristichs  was  a 
favorite  device  with  the  Babylonians.^-  Many  monuments  show 
this  mechanical  designation  of  poetry,  and  several  illustrations 
in  works  on  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  hymns  have  reproduced 
the  phi-nomenon.-'^  Several  questions  arise,  however,  in  eonuec- 
tioii  with  its  extensive  usage.      It  is  found  in  manv  bilingual 


Istar  (Giessen,  1874);  also  in  "  Semitismus  und  Babylonismus :  Zur  Frage 
nach  d.  Ursprung  des  Hebraismus, "  Jahrb.  f.  Protest.  TheoL,  I,  116ff. 
Helnrich  Gunkel's  work  on  Sclioepfung  und  Chaos  (Goettingen,  1895), 
p.  401,  n.  1,  brought  the  question  of  parallelism  and  metre  to  the  attention 
of  Heinrich  Zimmern  whose  numerous  essays  and  books  have  presented 
the  results  of  careful  investigation  on  the  two  points.  See  "Ein  vor- 
lauefiges  Wort  ueber  Babvl.  Metrik,"  ZA,  VIII,  121;  X,  1,  292;  XI,  83, 
339;  XII,  382.  Zimmern 's  suggestion,  ZA,  VIII,  122,  that  editors  and 
translators  should  show  graphically  tlie  parallelism,  metre,  and  strophes 
of  poems  has  found  echo  in  the  work  of  several  writers:  Pinckert,  Eymneii 
und  Gebeten  an  Nebo  (Leipzig,  1907),  p.  13;  Jensen,  " Assyr.-Babyl. 
Mythen  und  Epen,"  KeiUnschrif.  Bibliothek,  VI,  Teil  1,  s.  xiii;  Mar- 
tin, Textes  rcUgieux  assyriens  et  babyl.,  Biblioth.  de  I'Ecole  des  Bautes 
Etudes,  CXXX  (1900),  p.  xxii;  Hussey,  Some  Sumerian-Babylonian 
Hymns  of  the  Berlin  Collection  (Chicago,  1907),  p.  13;  Gray,  The  liamas 
Seligious  Texts  (Univ.  of  Chicago,  1908),  p.  11:  "Throughout  the  hymn 
is  found  a  parallelism  wliich  is  strikingly  similar  to  the  parallelism  of  the 
Hebrew   poetry,   and   which   corresponds   in    general   to   the    paragraphs." 

91  Zimmern,  ZA,  VIII,   123. 

82  Zimmern,  ZA,  XI,  87. 

S3  Bruennow,  "Assyrian  Hymns,"  ZA,  IV,  Iff.;  V,  55ff. ;  these  two 
hymns  to  Shamash  and  Merodach,  and  a  hynm  to  Nebo,  and  various  smaller 
fragments  "belong  to  a  well-marked  class,  the  distinctive  feature  of  which 
is  the  horizontal  line,  occurring  after  every  second  or  occasionally  third 
line  of  the  text,  and  generally,  though  not  always  marking  divisions  in 
the  sense. ' '  Bruennow  's  translations,  however,  do  not  demonstrate  this 
practice.  See  also  Craig,  Assyrian  and  Babiilonian  Beligious  Texts  (Leip- 
zig, 1895),  I,  passim.  It  is  found  on  tablets,  K.  3474,  8232,- 3312,  3182, 
2650,  8233,  3459,  8298,  8236,  etc. 


[88] 


I'lmilltlism   i„  Amos  33 

liyniiiN,  thi-  first  liiu-  luiiij:  Smmriim.  and  liciii-c  iinn-Si'initii'.  Ilif 
second  line  Assyrian.  Diil  tluii  tliis  prai'ticc  arise  throujrli  the 
n-pi'tition  of  tlie  sainc  thoiifrht  in  ditTi-rciit  lanfruajji's ;  ninnovcr, 
did  Babylonian-Assyrian  parallelism  orijrinate  from  the  same 
eustoni?  This  hypothesis  is  weak,  for  in  reply  it  may  lie  saitl 
that  tlie  horizontal  lines  occur  most  freipiently  where  the  two 
stiehoi  are  in  the  Assyrian  lanjiuafre,  and  where  the  thoiifrht 
thoujrii  the  same,  is  expressed  in  dilTerent  terms  in  each  stichos. 
Again  it  must  be  iioti'd  that  the  horizontal  lines  are  used  not 
merely  to  desifrnate  couplet  and  triplet  divisions,  but  oftentimes 
they  nuirk  otT  •rrou])s  of  two,  three,  four,  five  and  more  lines;"* 
tlK)u;rh  in  several  tablets  they  m-cur  with  such  rcfrularity  at 
the  end  of  every  two  lines  that  the  inscriptions  have  an  almost 
striped  appearance,  and  though  in  others  they  mark  off  eipial 
stropiies  at  regular  intervals,  at  times  they  are  employed  indis- 
criminately without  scheme  or  plan.  It  may  however  he  asked: 
Since  till'  Habylonian-As-syrian  originals  used  dividing  lines  to 
mark  otT  distichs  and  larger  eombiiuitions,  may  not  the  originals 
of  Hebrew  poetry,  even  including  prophetic  literature,  have  had 
n  similar  device  to  differentiate  poetry  from  prose,  and  above 
all  to  mark  off  the  couplets  and  strophes? 

The  (piestion  of  the  unit  of  Babylonian  poetry  lias  concerned 
several  investigators.  It  is  evident  that  strophes  exist  in  the 
compositions."^  Oftentimes  these  are  indicated  by  the  oiien 
spaces  between  the  various  stanzas,  as  well  as  by  horizontal 
lines.""  JIueller  busies  him.self  with  .strophes  of  six,  eight,  ten, 
and  twelve  liius,  and  neglects  entirely  the  couplet ;  for  him,  the 
normal  strophe  consists  of  eight  lines."'      Delitz-sch  regards  the 


»<  In  ("rnig"!!  olition.s,  II  (1897),  14.  lines  arc  ii.sed  in  K.  2.'>."),  obv.  col..  I, 
in  the  nrrangpnient  o^■^  +  2-^-•^-^-2  +  4,  etc.,  ovidontly  n  rogular  stropliic 
arrani;<*nirnt  built  upon  the  couplet  a.s  a  unit.  But  in  K.  2'i'i  rev.  col.,  I, 
the  combination  is  8  -)-  5  -f  .")  -I-  ."}  -f  1. 

I"  Zimmcrn,  Bab})loni»chf  Biurjmalmrn  (Leipzig,  188.»),  p.  fiti;  Lenor- 
mant,  A'.Mni  di  rommnilairr  dra  fragmrntu  cofmofionuiucn  de  Brro»t 
(Paris,  1872),  p.  4.'>8;  Haupt,  "Die  Akkaili.sche  Sprache,"  p.  xixv  to 
p.  2r>.  Perhaps  the  most  significant  works  are  Mueller,  Die  Prophrtrn 
in  lArrr  uritprurnglichrn  Form:  I.  Strnphmbau  und  Re»pnnitU>n  in  der  Kril- 
sfhri/ttitrratur  (Vienna,  1896);  DclitziM-h,  Dir  babul.  Wrltsehoepfungiifpos 
(Leipzig,  189fi),  Abh.  d.  phUhial.  Clauf  d.  k.  mtchji.  Gm.  d.  Wist.,  XVII, 
Num.  11,  poMnm. 

»"  Dflitzach,   p.   68. 

»'  Mueller,  p.  8. 


34  r„ralU'lls,ii  in  Amos 

four-line  strophe  as  the  basic  form;  where  without  artificiality  a 
complete  strophe  is  not  possible,  lialf-strophes  of  one  plus  one 
stichoi  maj^  be  formed  but  these,  he  saj's,  are  soon  compensated 
by  a  second  half-strophe  if  they  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  longer 
strophic  arrangement.  He  groups  his  text  in  four  stichic  com- 
binations, and  paj-s  little  heed  to  the  couplet. 

Zimmern  takes  issue  with  both  Delitzsch  and  ilueller.  Xot 
in  strophes,  which  afford  only  accidental  evidence,  but  in  the 
verse  and  the  distich  is  the  real  basis  of  Baliylonian  poetical 
forms  to  be  fciuiid.  .Mueller  overestimates  the  ]iart  which  the 
eight-line  str()i)ln'  plays  in  the  Creation  Epic;  Delitzsch  also 
ignores  the  obvious  couplet  structure  of  this  poem;  Zimmern 
asserts  that  the  distich  combination  is  vital  for  a  proper  under- 
standing of  the  text.  Herein  the  motif  of  parallelism  plays  an 
all-important  role.  The  tablets  show  the  horizontal  lines  which 
designate  the  couplets  only  when  the  two  stichoi  are  bound 
together  by  inner  reasons,  of  sense  and  thought-rhythm.''*  This 
makes  an  appi'eciation  of  parallelism  imperative  for  an  under- 
standing of  the  meaning  of  the  lines,  for  the  synonymous,  anti- 
thetic, or  synthetic  relation  of  the  first  to  the  second  stichos  is 
a  key  to  an  interpretation  of  the  text.  Prom  the  standpoint 
of  thought,  it  is  apparent  that  the  couplet  is  the  fundamental 
unit  of  Babylonian-Assyrian,  as  it  will  be  found  to  be  of  the 
Hebrew  poetry ;  it  must  be  remembered  however  that  couplets  do 
not  follow  each  other  in  unbroken  succession,  for  as  the  hori- 
zontal lines  and  internal  data  prove,  various  larger  combinations 
are  not  only  possible  but  fre(iucnt. 

From  the  standpoint  of  metre,  however,  the  unit  of  the  poetry 
is  discoverable  in  the  hemistich.  Each  distich  is  made  up  of 
four  quarters;  each  of  these  four  parts  has  two  tonal  accents, 
or  stresses.  This  quartering  is  often  portraj^ed  by  the  mechan- 
ical device  of  perpendicular  lines  dividing  each  hemistich."''  It 
seems  certain  that  the  Babylonians  employed  consciously  a 
regular  metrical  scheme,  and  that  they  counted  and  correctly 
apportioned  the  number  of  accents  in  each  hemistich.     Tlu'  tonic 


osZimmeru,  7.1,  XI,  Stiff. 

S'^Guukel,    p.    401,   n.    1;    this   occurs    ou    the    original    tablet    (Lo 
Sp.  II,  2(;.i  a.).      See  Zimineru,  ZA,  VIII,  121ff. 

[90] 


I'aralhlism  in  Amos  35 

aci'fiiliiatiim  staiuls  in  ckisc  a^'ri'cmiMit  with  the  llt-lnvw  and 
Aramaic  iiu'tliods,  and  in  thf  strony;(st  cDntrast  ti>  tin-  I'lassieal 
Arabii'.'""  The  profrross  of  the  sohoine  of  Assyrian-Babylonian 
piH'try  si'oins  then  to  be  from  the  hemistieli  to  the  sliehos,  to  tlie 
eonplet  or  ilistieh,  to  tlie  stroplie  or  mnltistieb. 

Examples  of  the  various  types  of  ])arailelisni  arc  nninnons.'"' 
Synonymous  parallelism  is  fouuil  thus: 

Whore  is  thy  name  not  hennlf      Whore  not  thy  ilcrrooM/ 
Where   nre   thy    iiniifjcs    not    niaili-f       Where    are    thy    teniples    uot 
foumleil  i 

Whore  art  thou  not  groat  J      Whore  art  tlioii  not  exalted? 

Aim,  Ellil,  and   Ea  have  exalted   thee, 

Among  the  gods  have  they  increased  thy  dominion.ios 

Kxamples  of  antithetie  parallelism  ean  be  found  frecpiently; 
the  follo\vin<;  is  taken  from  the  so-ealled  Babylonian  Job: 
In  a  moment  he  is  singing  anil  playing. 

In  an  instant  he  is  howling  like  a  oomplniner. 

Now  they  are  hungry  ami  are  like  a  oorpso, 

Again  they  are  full  and  are  like  unto  God.'<" 

looZimmorn,  /.I.  XII,  384.  Ho  believes  also  that  the  similarity  of 
Asayrian-Bahylonian  metre  to  the  Hohrew  may  assist  in  the  solution  of 
the' riddle  of  Hobri'W  verso-eonstruotion.  See  Gray,  Ftirmn  of  Ilibreu- 
Poetry,  p.  UOff.  Martin,  p.  xxii,  discusses  the  various  lengths  of  the 
hemistichs:  he  shows  that  the  two  homisticlis  are  sometimes  unequal  in 
length,  the  shorter  boing  the  second,  the  longer  the  first.  See  Zimmorn, 
"Ueber  Rhythmus  ini  Babylonischen,"  ZA,  XII,  382fr;  also  "  Babyl. 
Hymnen  umi  (iobete,"  Drr  altc  Oritnt,  VII,  '>;  and  Britractje  cur  Kinntniji 
il.'  habyloniufhin  li'lif>ii>ii  (Leipzig,  1901).  Uolitzsch,  p.  tilflf.,  gives  four 
laws  for  metrical  arrangement  of  the  hemistichs: 

1.  Each  line  falls  into  two  half-linos. 

2.  The   .second   hemistichs   are   subject   to   a   stricter   rhythmical   law 

than  the   first. 

3.  The   law    of   the   second    hcmi.stichs    is   that    they    shall    have    not 

more  than  two  main  accents,  consisting  of  two  accented 
syllables,  whether  long  or  closed  (a  vowel  followed  by  two 
con.sonants). 

4.  The   first   half-verses  are  subject    to  a   loss  strict   rhythmical   law: 

(a)    for  some,  the  rule  of  the  soconci   hemistichs  is  also  oper- 
ative,   namely,   the   demand    for    two   main    accents;    (b)    but 
the   first   hemistich  can   also   have   throe   main   accents. 
i»i  Zimmern,    "Babyl.    Hymnen,"    Dir    ollr    Orirnt,    VII,    lOO.!;    XIII, 
1911.      For  a  bibliography,  sec  Bezold,  ttabyl.- Aiutiir.  Liltcralur   (Leipzig, 
1886),  pp.  17l-18fi:  Zimmern.  Drr  nltr  OrirnI,  XIII,  .12;  Koenig,  SlilUtii; 
Shrtorik,    Portik    (Leipzig,    1900);    p.    311.      Rogers,    Cunrifnrm    ParaHrU, 
gives  excellent  translations  of  many  hymns,  incantations  ami   epics. 
'"Rogers,  p.   l.>4.   Hymn   to   Ishtar;    se«>  also  p.    I.">9. 
103  Ibid.,  p.   ItH-ItU. 

[91  1 


36  ParalJflism  in  Amos 

Examples  of  synthetic  parallelism  iutermingle  with  regular 
synonymous  parallelism : 

The  sewers  of  the  city  shall  be  thy  drink, 

The  shadows  of  the  walls  shall  be  thy  dwelling, 

The  thresholds  shall  be  thy  habitation. 

The  drunken  and  the  thirsty  shall  smite  thy  cheek.iM 

Oftentimes  there  is  a  kind  of  alternate  parallelism: 
In  a  dispute  when  I  take  part 

The  woman  who  understands  piltvm  am  I: 

In  a  law  suit  when  I  take  part 

The  woman  who  understands  the  law  am  1.105 

This  is  a  sisrn  of  elementary  strophic  interparallelistie  structure, 
which  is  foimd  highly  developed  in  other  poems.  Several 
acrostic  hymns  are  at  hand,  comparable  to  the  Psalms.^"^  The 
practice  of  autiphonal  singing  was  apparently  common,  and  gave 
rise  to  hj-mns  wherein  refrains  were  maintained  in  identical 
words  for  long  periods.  These  repetitions  resemble  several  of 
the  incantation  refrains  common  in  Egyptian  poetry.  The  pro- 
cessional Hj-mn  to  llarduk  was  sung  antiphoually.  the  priest 
singing  the  first  half,  the  people  responding  with  the  recurrent 
refrain : 

The  city  cries  out  to  thee  ' '  Best, " "  may  thy  house  rejoice  in  thee. 

Babylon  cries  out  to  thee  "Best,"  may  thy  house  rejoie*  in  thee. 

The  great  Anu,  father  of  the  gods,  cries  out  to  thee  ' '  Best  at  last. " ' 
May  the  mighty  mountain,  father  Bel,  cry  to  thee  "Best  at  last.-'i''' 

Schrader  cites  several  examples  of  liturgical  songs  in  tie 
Temple  which  he  affirms  were  sung  antiphoually :  the  following 
is  the  Song  of  the  Seven  Spirits : 
(Strophe) 
Seven  are  they,  seven  are  they, 
In  the  sea 's  deep,  seven  are  tiey 
In  the  sky's  blue,,  seven  are  they, 
In  the  sea,  far  down,  their  birth. 


lo^rhid..  p.  128,  Ishtar's  Descent  to  Hades.  See  Schrader,  BU 
BocUrnfahrt.  passim :  Jeremais,  Die  Bahyt-assjir.  TorgteUung  r.  Leben 
nach  dcm  Todc  (Leipzig,  1SS7),  p.  9. 

505  Hnssey.  p.  13. 

lOGZimme.m.  ZA.  X,  I.t:  see  Bezold,  Catalogue,  p.  905  with  reference 
to  K.  S204,  and  p.  1.549:  Pinches,  Terts,  p.  lof. 

If T  The  word  ''Best""  hexe  and  elsewhere  in  the  hymn  is  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  the  words  of  the  old  formnla  in  the  incantation  teits,  "May  thy 
heart  be  appeased. " '  The  hymn  was  sung  after  the  manner  of  the  Hallel 
Psalms. 

[92] 


J'aralhlism   ,n  Amos  37 

(Altornato  Strophe) 
Not   innlo  aro  they,  not   female  tliey, 
Wife  they  take  not,  son  they  have  not, 
Both  law  anil  onler  know  they   not, 
To  prayers  and  wishes  hark  they  not. 

(Eml  Strophe) 
S<>ven  are  they,  seven  are  they, 
The  Seven  Adisina  thcy.x" 

Another  cxamiilc  of  liijrlily  devt-lopi'd  stroiiliic  stnutiuc.  wlicn-in 
tlio  parallolisin  is  perfect,  is  the  hymn : 
(Strophe) 
Who  is  sublime  in  the  skies  f 

Thou  alone,  thou  art  sublime; 
Who  is  sublime  upon  earth  t 
Thou  aloue,  thou  art  sublime. 

(Alternate  Strophe) 
Thy  mighty  command  is  proelaimeil  in  the  skies, 

The  Gods  then   prostrate  themselves; 
Thy  mighty  command  is  proclaimed  upon  enrtli. 

The  Spirits  then  kiss  the  ground.!"" 

Two  major  questions  are  involved  in  a  diseu.ssion  of  Assyrian- 
Baliyhmian  parallelism.  The  first  concerns  the  regularity  of 
till'  eouplet  formation.  Despite  imperfections  and  corruptions 
of  the  te.vts,  it  is  certain  that  repular  couplets  are  uuiintaiiu>d 
for  fairly  loiip  intervals.  The  number  of  unattached  or  floating 
nionostichs,  al.so.  is  very  large;  they  creep  into  the  poems  at  the 
most  unexpected  places,  and  interrupt  the  regularity  without 
any  law  or  scheme.  Though  in  several  instances  complementary 
or  corresponding  lines  have  disappeared  beeatise  of  text  muti- 
lation, nevertheless  it  must  he  admitted  that  as  in  Hebrew, 
unaecotintably  placed  lines  appear  in  othenvise  regular  struc- 
ture.""    Again,  a-s  in  Hebrew,  several  lines  contain  a  heaping-up 


'"«  Sohrader,  BorUrnfahrt,  p.  110-11,'5.  The  first  strophes  may  havo 
been  .lung  by  half-choirs,  pnd  the  closing  strophes  by  the  general  choir. 

'"•Schroder,  pp.  111-11.^,  calls  attention  to  the  "specifically  Hebrew" 
strophic  system.  He  links  (pp.  S.VSfi)  the  highly  (levelop«'d  strophical 
scheme  with  the  advanced  Babylonian  civiliiation  as  Ewald  had  ilono  with 
the  Hebrew  strophe  in  relation  to  He*rew  culture.  The  part  played  by 
magical  incantations  ami  formulas  in  the  development  of  the  strophe  and 
parallelinn  is  as  significant  in  Babylonian  Assyrian  as  in  Egyptian,  Fin- 
nish, and  other  literatures. 

""See  the  Lsolateit  stichoi  in  Amos,  below.  Martin,  p.  xxviii,  saya: 
"These   combinations,   too   irregular   to   deserve    the    name   of   strophe,   do 

[M] 


38  Parallelism  in  Amos 

of  terms,  especially-  of  iioims,  complemeutary  to  the  subject  in 

the  first  stiehos  of  a  couplet : 

0  Shamash,  he  who  goes  his  way  in  fear  prays  to  thee, 
(....)>  the  traveler,  the  tradesman,  he  who  carries  the  weights. 

O  Shamash,  the  hunter  with  the  net  prays  to  thee, 
The  hunter  ( ? ) ,  the  cattleman,  the  tender  of  herbs. 

The  second  problem  concerns  the  relation  of  poetry  to  prose. 
As  in  the  Bible,'"  verses  are  found  not  merely  in  the  hj'mns,  the 
epics,  and  other  texts  of  obviously  poetical  character,  but  also 
in  the  historical  texts  of  "elevated  style.''  An  example  may 
be  found  in  the  Shamashshumukin  tablet  of  Assurbanapal."- 
It  may  be  that  these  poetical  sections  were  quoted  from  other 
poems;  yet  on  the  other  hand,  the  occasional  presence  of  what 
seems  to  be  rhythm  in  historical  narratives,  points  to  the  authen- 
ticity of  poetical  sections  as  native  to  an  apparently'  prose 
work.""  Though  on  occasion,  Babylonian  parallelism  may  be 
the  result  of  no  conscious  artistic  process,  but  the  natural 
outcome  of  rhj-thmically  exalted  speech,"^  its  presence  in  com- 
positions of  patently  prosaic  character,  or  under  the  spell  of 
no  great  poetic  emotion,  is  proof  that  it  was  a  deliberate  and 
recognized  poetical  device.  It  may  be  concluded  that  in  Baby- 
lonian-Assyrian as  in  Hebrew,  there  is  a  mixture  of  poetry  and 
prose,  wherein  the  limits  of  the  former  are  more  or  less  deter- 
mined by  mechanical  aids :  but  the  widespread  character  of 
synthetic  parallelism,  and  the  narrative  character  of  several 
poetical  epics,  permit  the  conclusion  that  the  interplay  of  poetry 
and  prose  is  almost  as  intricate  and  indefinable  as  in  Hebrew. 

A  word  may  be  said  on  the  value  of  parallelism  for  exegesis."'' 


not  seem  to  be  inspired  by  any  rule  of  prosody. ' '  They  seem  to  have 
had  no  other  rule  than  the  development,  more  or  less  long,  given  by  the 
scribe   to  his   thought. 

Ill  See  II  K.  8.12,  etc. 

ii2Zimmern,  ZA,  VIII,  123;   IX,  338-339. 

113  Jeremias,  p.  9. 

IK  Schrader,  p.  60,  compares  the  stiehic  form  of  the  poem  on  Ishtar's 
Journey,  to  the  writing  of  the  Song  in  Deut..  chap.  32.  See  also  West- 
phal,  Allgcmeine  Theorie  der  musil-alischen  EhytJunik  (Leipzig,  1880),  p.  37. 

115  Dhorme,  Textes  religieux  assyro-babyloniens  (Paris,  1907),  p.  4, 
and  passivi;  Martin,  pp.  24,  48;  Zimmern,  Bussiisalmeii.  pp.  12-13,  24, 
42,  43,  99,  104,  and  jtassitn;  an  emendation  on  p.  97  is  "confirmed  bv  the 
parallelism."     See  also  ZJ.  XI,  335,  339. 

[94] 


rurallilis-m  in  Amos  39 

An  examplf  of  the  assistaufC  wliieli  it  roiidors  in  tlie  deeiplier- 
ment  of  imitihitfil  or  dubious  words  may  be  found  in  tiiis 
st'leetion: 

For  fooil,  1   will  out  tin-  ihiy, 

For  ilriuk,   1   will  drink    (tlie  wiitor) 

That   I   may  weep  for  the  men  who  have  left  their  wives, 
That  I  iiiuy  weep  for  the  women  (torn)  from  their  husbands'  bosoms, 
That  I  may  we.>p  for  the  little  children  (snatch.'d  away  before)   their 
aay.ii-' 

The  relation  of  Babyhmian  to  the  ori^'iii  nl'  IIcIhtw  |);iralK'l- 
ism  will  be  discussed  below."" 


Arabic  I'ailvi.leusm 

CLASSICAL    (iNCLUDISa    PERSIAN    AND   TURKISH) 

The  elose  relationship  between  Arabic  and  Hebrew  literature 
has  often  been  noted.""  Thou<rh  the  Hebrews  attained  a  high 
(Trade  of  civilization  over  1500  years  before  the  Arabs  became 
productive,  the  cultures  of  the  two  show  traces  of  primitive 
union:  the  poetry  of  the  ancient  desert  tribes  resembles  the 
measures  of  the  earliest  Hebrew  heroes  and  heroines.  In  both 
literatures,  the  orifriiial  type  of  poetic  utterance  seems  to  have 
been  the  otle,  the  sonp  of  joy,  sorrow,  thankfulness,  or  prayer; 
and  may  have  been  a  species  of  improvised  utterance  common  to 
both  these  branches  of  the  Semitic  race."" 

The  forms  of  Hebrew  and  of  Arabic  poetry  show  sifrns  of  simi- 
larity. Arabic  poetry  in  itself  represents  a  long:  historical 
process;  the  steps  by  which  it  advanced  from  primeval  begin- 
nings to  the  most  intricate  and  elaborate  forms  reflect  the 
evolution  of  poetrj-  a.s  a  whole.  Hebrew  poetry,  however,  cea.sed 
to  expand  according  to  its  own  native  genius  after  the  second 
or  third  century  of  the  common  era,  and  must  be  regarded  from 


«>«  Rogers,  p.   123. 

iif  See  p.  61. 

'•'Jones,  Fnr.nriu  Asiatirar  rommrnlarinrium  lihri  nex  (London,  1774), 
pp.  2.>-»i5;  Wenrii-h,  Dr  pnr.nron  Ilrhrtufoe  atijui'  Arabicac  orifjinc  (Ijeip- 
ii({,  1S43),  piiAtim.  Ewnld,  Pe  Uetrit  Carminum  Arabicorum  (BriinswicK, 
1825),  p.  96;  De  Ritis,  /  Metri  Arabi  (Nnple-i,  1833),  I,  82;  Steiner, 
Vebrr  hebraeitchf  Potne   (Basel,   1873),  pp.   12,  23. 

n'Chenerv,  AtnembUrt  of  Al  Hariri   (London,  1867),  I,  45. 

[93] 


40  ParaUelism  in  Amos 

the  viewpoint  of  form  as  a  relatively  primitive  class  of  literature. 
The  multitude  and  variety  of  later  Arabic  poetic  and  rhetorical 
forms  have  rendered  it  difficult  to  select  any  one  as  dominantly 
characteristic ;  while  the  scarcitj'  of  primitive  Arabic  poems,  con- 
temporaneous with  the  original  Hebrew  compositions,  has  made 
it  hard  to  discern  the  fundamental  rules  of  prosodj'  and  poetics 
which  govern  them.  Hence  the  presence  of  parallelism,  the  out- 
standing trait  of  Hebrew  poetry/-"  has  been  in  the  Arabic 
alternately  championed  and  disputed.'-'  It  is  therefore  neces- 
sary to  reexamine  the  Islamic  literatures  in  an  endeavor  to 
determine  whether  parallelism  is  to  be  found  therein.  For  this 
task  investigation  in  Arabic  poetry  is  not  sufficient;  Moham- 
medan-Persian literature,  which  is  based  upon  Arabic  poetical 
canons,  and  also  Ottoman  poetry,  which  is  indebted  both  to  the 
Arabic  and  the  Persian,  offer  fruitful  evidence.  It  is  advisable 
to  group  these  three  under  one  classification,  though  minor  vari- 
ations between  them  exist. 

Repetition  in  Islamic  poetry  nuist  first  be  noted.  It  may 
be  categorically  affirmed  that  repetitions  after  the  manner  of 
the  Egyptian,  the  Sumerian  and  the  Babylonian-Assyrian  poetry 
are  absent  from  the  Arabic;  but  a  close  approach  to  repetition 
is  found  in  the  rhetorical  device  called  'aks  "inversion."  Here 
two  parts  of  a  distich  are  so  arranged  that  the  same  words  which 
begin  a  sentence  are  reversed  to  conclude  it ;  in  its  various  mani- 
festations, it  sometimes  takes  on  parallelistic  character.  In  the 
Arabic,  this  example  may  be  cited : 

And  their  black  hair  became  white, 
And  their  white  countenauce  black.1-2 


120  Perhaps  the  first  investigator  to  note  parallelism  as  such  in  the 
Arabic  was  Schleusner,  Dissertatw,  p.  11 ;  but  Sehrader,  due  to  the  de- 
ficiencies of  his  Arabic  scholarship,  affirmed  a  century  later  in  1875  that 
no  parallelism  existed  in  Islamic  poetry.  Though  he  expresses  wonder 
at  its  absence  among  those  tribes  most  protected  from  foreign  influence, 
still  this  agrees  with  his  preconceived  theory  of  the  non-Semitic  origin 
of  parallelism,  which  he  attributes  to  the  ancient  Akkadians.  Mueller 
however,  in  his  discussion  of  the  strophic  structure  of  the  Koran,  asserts 
that  the  main  characteristics  of  the  verses  and  also  the  multistichs  and 
strophes  are  parallelism  and  antithesis. 

121  Die  Propheten,  p.  59. 

i22Mehren,  Die  Rhetorik  der  Arabcr   (Vienna,   1853),  p.   104. 


[96] 


I'aralUlism  in  Amos  41 

Fnim  the  Pi'rsian  : 

lu  your  I'ouiitouaiiec,  I  boheKl  tlio  Ijoaut.v  of  wliiih  1  liiul  lionnl, 
That  beauty  of  whii-li  I  had  honrd,  in  your  fouiittMiaiuT  I  lK'holil.i=' 

From  the  Ottoman : 

The  seasou  of  youth  is  the  time  to  ai-quire  kiiowletige; 
The  time  to  acquire  knowledge  is  the  seasiou  of  youth. is* 

Sometimes  the  words  are  rend  botli  baekwards  and  forwards, 
in  the  manner  of  the  anagram,  exeeptingr  that  tliere  letters,  and 
here  whole  words  are  transposed: 

You  posse.Hs  money  and  you  possess  liberality; 

Liberality  you  possess  and  money  you  possess.'^' 

It  ean  be  seen  here  at  once,  however,  that  the  device  is  not 
bnilt  upon  repetition,  bnt  upon  inversion.'-" 

Another  form  of  repetition  or  reiteration  is  found  in  tiie 
iinikarrar,  a  form  of  paronomasia,  wherein  a  wcn-d  is  repeated 
in  tlie  .sann'  distieh  its  hemistich.  Thoufrh  parallelism  is  not 
neee.s-sarily  attendant  upon  the  nnihiirnu-,  these  exanipli-s  are 
clearly  marked  1>.\'  it : 

Whosoever  seeks  something  and  e.xerts  himself,  will  find   it. 
Whosoever  knocks  on  a  door  and   perseveres,  will  enter.' =? 

From  tlic  Persian : 

Your  cheeks  resemble  two  leaves,  and  each  leaf  is  the  sun; 
Y'our  hair  hangs  in  ringlets,  and  each  ringlet  is  a  cord. 

From  envy  of  these  leaves,  the  leaves  of  the  rose  are  expanded; 
From  envy  of  those  ringlets,  the  spikenard  becomes  twisted.>2» 


'S' Ciladwin,  On  the  Rhetoric,  Prosody,  and  Ehyme  of  the  Persians 
(Calcutta,  1801),  passim;  Rucckert-Pertsch,  Grammatik;  Poctik  wid 
Rhftohk   der  Pcrser  (Gotha,  1874),  passim. 

15«  Gibbs,  History  of  Ottoman  Poetry   (London,  1900),  5  vols.,  passim. 
•  23  Glailwin,   p.   27.       An   example   of   the   manner    in    which    good    par- 
allelism  may   occur   in   this   formation   can    be   seen    in    this   quotation: 
"In  lil)orality  you  are  Ilatem,  in  dignity  you  are  Caesar; 
In  command  you  arc  Asaf;   in  argument  you  are  Jesus." 
Reversed    it    becomes: 

"You  arc  Jesus  in  argument;  you  are  A.saf  in  command; 
You  are  Caesar  in  dignity,  you  are  Ilatem  in  litwrality. " 
i=«Ciibbs,  I,  n.">.  He  mentions  also  the  lard  u'ais  or  tpandos  which 
consists  in  forming  the  second  line  or  a  distich  from  the  reversed  halves 
of  the  first  line,  as  in  the  example  quoted.  Sometimes  the  conversion  is 
"perfect"  and  sometimes  "imperfect."  As  an  example  of  this  same 
usage  in  English  poetry,  Gibbs  quotes  Milton: 

"O  more  exceeding  love  or  law  more  just. 
Just   law   indeed,  but  more  exceeding  love." 
12*  Mehren,  p.   100.     The  paronomasia  does  not  iK-come  apparent   in  the 
tran.nlations. 

1"  Glmlwin,  p.  29. 

(97) 


42  PaniUplisw  in  Amos 

An  even  closer  approach  to  parallelism  is  found  in  some  of 
the  varieties  of  the  tajnis  motif,  also  a  form  of  paronomasia.^-" 
It  occurs  when  the  author  employs  in  verse  or  prose,  two  or  more 
words  resembling  each  other  in  their  letters,  but  having  different 
meanings.  Oftentimes  the  general  effect  is  of  parallelism, 
especially  where  the  motif  occurs  in  a  distich.  The  tajnis  tdmm 
or  "perfect  similarity  and  homogeneity,"  occurring  when  two 
words  of  different  meaning  have  the  same  sound  and  form, 
without  any  variations  of  the  vowel  points,  creates  several  par- 
allelistic  couplets,  of  which  this  is  a  type: 

If  I  compare  your  cheek  to  the  rose,  I  committeil  a  mistake; 
And    if   I    called   your   hair    musk   of    Tartary,    I    uttered    an    impro- 
priety.130 

Among  the  varietii's  of  imperfect  similarity,  couplets  of 
parallelism  occur,  but  not  so  frefjuently.  The  jiiuls  al-qalb 
contains  an  inversion  and  antithesis,  apparent  in  this  couplet 
of  Ahnaf : 

In  3'our  sword  victory  for  your  friends  is  prepared: 
In  your  lance  death  for  your  enemies.i^i 

A  Turkish  example  of  tlu^  jinfis  inuxarraf  or  "altered  similar- 
ity," wherein  the  letters  of  the  terms  are  all  alike  except  that 
the  vowel  points  differ,  is  present  here : 

The  fame  of  her  beauty  increaseth  in  the  city ; 

The  praise  of  her  rose-cheek  is  the  theme  of  every  tongue.132 

Another  rhetorical  device  which  approaches  but  does  not 
attain  parallelism  is  found  in  the  tg,qsim  or  "division,"  a  term 
applied  also  to  mathematical  division  in  the  works  of  Euclid. 
That  it  was  taken  to  mean  a  species  of  parallelism  can  be  tinder- 
stood  from  a  comment  of  Tlia' alibi  on  the  style  of  Mutannabi 
that  among  the  beautiful  and  original  features  of  liis  works  he 
employed  the  tiKishu,  thus  dividing  his  sentences  into  parallel 
parts : 

We  were  in  gladness,  the  Greeks  in  fear; 

The  land  in  bustle,  the  sea  in  eonfusion.iss 

120  Mehren,  p.  154fE. 

130  Gladwin,  p.  6ff. 

131  Mehren,  p.  l'>S. 

132  Gibbs,  p.  116. 

133  Nicholson,  Literary  History  of  the  Arabs  (New  York,  1907), 
p.    311 ;    Dieteriei,    Mutanabhi    viid    Scifuddanla    ans    der    Edelperle    des 

[98] 


I'anilhlistn  in  Amo.i  43 

Hut  (.•loser  I'xaminati"!!  of  ollior  exaiiiplos  l)ftrnys  flu-  fact  that 
luqs'iin  is  not  {jeiiuino  parallflisni :  in  a  lifinisticli,  or  a  stii-lios, 
tlic  poet  recites  several  |)artii'iilars,  ami  afterwards  in  another 
lu'inistieli  or  stiehos,  introchiees  some  others  in  eonneetion  with 
them,  anil  assigns  each  to  eaeh  reffularly : 

I  mil  pivnaed  with  love  and  wine  becnuw  tliey  nre  not  friemls; 

Neither  love  with  the  libidinous,  nor  wine  with  the  lips  of  the  pious 
man."* 

In  a  sense,  this  motif  produees  a  triplet  formation,  of  which  the 
first  .stiehos  is  loiifr.  and  the  other  two  are  shorter;  parallelism 
lying  only  between  them,  and  not  involving  the  first : 

A  soul  and  a  heart  I  had  as  profit  from  the  moans  of  existence; 

A  stealthy  glance  took  the  latter; 

Vour  flattery  stole  the  foriner.'^s 

Several  other  rhetorical  devices  of  the  jioetry  of  the  Islamic 
literatures  might  be  cited  as  near-parallelism,  but  they  are  delib- 
erate and  con.scious  poetic  devices;  they  are  chiselled  out  by  a 
eureful  method,  and  lack  the  spontaneity  and  freedom  of  Hebrew 
parallelism.  Moreover  they  are  historically  late,  and  none  suf- 
fice to  indicate  the  path  to  a  solution  of  the  question  whether  the 
Arabic  contains  genuine,  sustained  and  regular  parallelism, 
similar  to  the  Hebrew.      It  is  therefore  necessarj'  to  turn  back 


TiiuUibi  (Leipzig,  1847),  p.  72.  Tha 'alibi  introduces  as  confirmation  of 
his  judgment  the  opinion  of  Abu  1  "Kasim  of  Amid,  who  in  his  book  If'cigh- 
iiiff  of  the  Poems  relates  the  following  tale:  "Once  a  stylistic  connoisseur 
li.jinl  the  verses  of  al-Abbas  ibn  al-Ahnaf  : 

'Your  union  is  separation;  your  word  hate; 
Your  as.sent  is  dis.sent;   your  peace  war. 
You  iM'ar  within  you  through  God 's  grace  harsh  thoughts, 
And  all   tenilcrnesa   is  obstinate.' 
Then  he  said:   'By  Allah,  this  is  finer  than  the  divisions  of  Euclid.      But 
still  more  worthy  of  this  praise  is  the  vers*-  of  Abu  Tayyib'  (quoted  in  the 
tc.\t).     Tha 'alibi  also  ninke.s  mention  of  the  fact  that  Mutanabbi  arranged 
his   conswcutive   similes    in    brief   .snnmetrical   clauses    (Nicholson,    p.    310; 
Dieterici,  p.  68). 

"She  shone  forth  like  a  moon 

And   Nwaycil   like   a   morning   bough, 
And  shod  fragrance  like  amlxTgris, 
And  gazed  like  a  gazelle. ' ' 
iVhIwnrdt,  Porsir  uml  Pnrlik  drr  Arabrr  (Gothn,  1856),  p.   7-1,  also  notes 
the   parallelism    in    J/u(<iniihbi;    on    taqsim,   sec    Freytag,   Darstellunp   drr 
arahitchrn    f'ir.iiuiiiil    (Bonn,   1830),  p.  537. 
>'«Gla<lwin,  p.  49. 
'5-  Rucckert  Pertsch,  p.  340. 


[09  1 


44  Parallelism  in  Amos 

to  the  earliest  origins  of  Arabic  poetry  in  a  search  for  germane 
comparative  data. 

Among  the  oldest  extant  Arabic  poems  is  found  this  selection  : 

Tell  me,  O  Rakash  and  deceive  me  not, 

Hast  thou  given  thyself  to  a  free  man,  or  to  a  base  born? 

Or  to  one  lower,  for  thou  art  fit  for  one  lower? 

Or  to  a  slave,  for  thou  art  fit  for  a  slavefisr. 

It  is  at  once  evident  that  parallelism  is  present  here.  Tlie 
same  can  be  said  of  this  quotation : 

By  the  light  and  the  dark ;  by  the  earth  and  the  heaven ; 
Surely  the  trees  shall  perish;   and  the  waters  shall  return  as  in  the 
time  of  old. 

These  selections,  taken  from  a  bulk  of  similar  material,  are 
unmetrical,  though  in  each  of  the  lines  the  iirst  and  second  parts 
rhyme  in  their  last  word.  They  are  composed  in  the  saf  form. 
Literally  this  word  signifies  the  sound  made  by  the  cooing  of 
a  dove ;  in  rhetorical  terminolog.y,  it  designates  ' '  rhymed  prose ' ' ; 
but  for  a  comparison  with  the  Hebrew  poetry  this  translation 
of  the  term  is  unsatisfactory,  for  Hebrew  poetry  contains  no 
rhyme,  other  than  the  few  instances  where  it  occurs  accidentally. 
In  Arabic,  too,  the  rhyme  of  the  saj'  is,  at  least  in  its  earliest 
manifestation,  not  all  important;  it  is  regarded  by  Goldziher  as 
a  later  introduction,  emploj^ed  extensively  for  the  first  time  in 
the  formal  public  discourse  or  sermon,  the  khutba,  from  tin; 
third  century  of  the  Hijra  onward."'  It  is  therefore  better 
to  translate  saj'  as  "unmetrical  poetry."'^*  To  this  species, 
the  Hebrew  poetry  shows  startling  similarities.  Among  the 
Arabs  and  the  Hebrews,  the  simplest  element  of  poetical  speech 
is  "the  versiele,  a  short  and  serried  sentence,  vigorously  express- 
ing a  single  idea,  and  detached  from  what  goes  before  and  comes 
after  it."""  The  poetry  of  both  is  made  up  by  the  agglutina- 
tion of  these  unmetrical  versicles  to  one  another:  Hebrew  cnn- 


136  Chenery,  p.  42,  gives  this  translation. 

137  Goldziher,  Abhandlungen  sur  arabisclten  Fhilologie  (Leyden,  189(3), 
contains  a  discussion  of  the  saj',  I,  57-76£f.  On  lack  of  rhyme  in  early 
khutbas,  see  p.  62.  On  the  saj',  see  also  Preudergast,  The  Maqatnat  of 
Badi  Al-Zaman  Al-Hamadhani   (1915),  p.  8fE. 

138  Gray,  p.  4-t;  Goldziher,  p.  59. 

139  Chenery,  p.  47-48. 

[  100  ] 


I'arallelisni  in  Amos  45 

fiiK's  itself  til  iiarallelisiii  mainly,  a  polarity  or  dualism  bftwceii 
two  vi'i-sii'lfs ;  Aniliif  shows  this  dualism,  to^fi'ther  with  l-oii- 
tiiuiity,  the  fornier  appcarin'r  in  the  jiarallelistie  spoceii  of  the 
desert  oratoi-s,  and  most  elearly  in  the  Maqt'itiidt  of  Hariri; 
while  tile  latter  is  more  eonspieuous  in  the  semimetrieal  verse, 
called  rajiiz,  wliieli  will  be  discussed  below;  both  parallelism  and 
continuity  arc  present  in  compositions  of  a  stricter  prosody 
which  the  Arabs  themselves  call  poetry.'*" 

The  most  important  point  in  the  saj' ,  however,  is  not  the 
fact  that  it  is  unmctrical,  or  that  in  ancient  times  it  was  not 
rhymed,'*'  but  that  it  is  the  counterpart  of  genuine  Hebrew 
parallelism.  The  rhetorical  character  of  the  earliest  kinitbd  was 
concerned  more  with  the  symmetry  and  synonymity  of  the 
stichoi  than  with  any  other  poetical  element.'*-  The  psycho- 
logical basis  for  the  saj'  is  the  rhythmical  and  balanced  form 
which  seems  to  grow  from  exalted  speech  :  whenever  the  lan- 
guage of  the  khiitba  becomes  elevated  and  excited,  parallelism 
appeai-s;  and  even  in  the  ordinary  prose  of  the  most  sober 
narratives,  the  saj'  appears  when  the  writer  describes  anything 
which  arouses  his  admiration  or  amazement. 

A  valuable  piece  of  evidence  for  the  thesis  that  parallelism 
in  its  origins  is  intimately  bound  up  with  magical  incantations 
an<l  formulas  is  discernible  in  the  fact  that  the  saj'  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  characteristic  form  of  utterance  by  the  ancient 
Arabic  sootiisayers.  Many  legends  have  been  handed  down 
regarding  its  use  for  exorcisms,  for  oracular  sa.vings,  for  prayers 
of  protection,  for  prescriptions  against  the  evil  eye,  for  beggar- 
proverbs,  and  similar  forms ;  its  oldest  usage  for  magical  p\ir- 
poses  may  be  found  in  the  judgments  luid  wise  words  of  the 
old  AaAiji-speeches  of  heathen  Arabic  anti(|uity;  later  its  use 
became  a  religious  question,  and  though  it  is  said  that  Mohammed 
banned  it  as  a  reminder  of  the  days  before  his  coming,'*'  ncver- 


>«>  In  ail'lition  to  tho  i/tK/dniiit  of  Hariri,  parallolixm  of  the  »aj'  i»  to 
bo  fouDil  in  tlic  J/ii(;ilm>i(  of  alllanmilhani  (hoc  al>ove),  in  tlio  ilaqami'il 
of  the  Jewish  pool  nl'Hnrizi  (sec  Iwlowr  i  ;  and  in  the  imitation  of  tho 
itaijdmUt  of  Hariri  by  Nn.iif  al-Vazaji  of  Beirut   (Chenery,  p.  98). 

'•I  Chenery,  p.  48,  anil  above. 

i«2Goliliiher,  p.  »>4. 

'•>On  tho  U!ic  of  tho  »aj'  by  niafnrian.i|  anil  divinem,  sec  Ooldiiher, 
p.    69fr.       A   comparison   ran    bo    instituted    between    the   use   of    the   $aj' 

[101] 


46  I'araUcUsiii  in  Amos 

theless  he  himself  wrote  the  Koran  in  saj'  or  rhymed  prose 
motif.  Mohammed's  utterances,  it  is  true,  though  unmetrical, 
make  a  nearer  approach  to  versification  than  the  ordinary 
rhymed  prose,  because  their  rhyme  is  continuous ;  Mueller  is  cor- 
rect, however,  in  his  discovery  of  parallelism  and  antithesis  in 
the  Koran,  though  these  are  by  no  means  the  dominant  styles. 
After  Mohammed,  the  Islamic  preachers  adopted  the  saf  for 
their  weekly  exhortations  in  the. mosques;  and  rhymed  prose, 
with  emphasis  laid  more  and  more  on  the  rhj-me,  now  became  so 
widespread  that  it  was  used  in  the  introduction  to  most  books, 
throughout  others  (particularly  histories),  and  almost  in  com- 
mon conversation.'"  In  the  Thousand  Niyhts  diid  n  Night  "it 
adds  a  sparkle  to  description  and  a  point  In  iir(i\ci-li,  epigram 
and  dialogue ; .  .  .  and,  generally,  it  defines  the  boundaries  be- 
tween the  classical  and  the  popular  styles.'""*" 

In  conjunction  with  the  parallelism  of  the  saj'  arose  a 
regular  metre,  the  rajaz.  This  was  employed  long  before  the 
end  of  the  Period  of  Ignorance,  and  was  the  favorite  vehicle 
for  the  sententious  utterances  of  chiefs  and  warriors,  wise  men 
and  diviners."''  Fundamentally  rajaz  is  nothing  but  rhyth- 
mically disciplined  a'o/.""  Parallelism  existed  before  the  intro- 
duction of  rhyme,  and  surely  before  the  introduction  of  the 
rajaz  metre.  When  out  of  rh.^-me  and  the  rajaz  there  is  devel- 
oped verse  or  poetry  proper  in  all  its  multiform  ramifications 
and  artifices,  parallelism  still  continues;  but  it  is  buried  under 
a  mass  of  poetical  devices.  It  is  crowded  by  metre,  bounded  and 
modified  bj'  rhjTne ;  but  none  the  less  even  in  the  genuine  poetry 


by  the  soothsayers,  and  the  words  mentioned  with  reference  to  the  yidd''- 
'6mm  in  Isaiah  8.19.  There  mahghn  can  refer  to  the  cooing  of  the  turtle 
dove,  just  as  mcgaphg'^pliini  refers  to  the  chirping  of  the  birds.  This  woukl 
seem  to  point  to  the  usage  of  tlie  saj'  by  the  soothsayers  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  hence  to  lend  evidence  to  the  hypotiiesis  that  the  saj'  may  also  have 
been  at  some  time  or  another  a  form  of  the  Hebrew  parallelism.  The 
Arabic  saj'  may  be  related  to  tlie  Hebrew  sliugga'  "to  be  intoxicated  with 
prophecy. ' ' 

"iChenery,  p.  52ff.  Arbuthnot,  Arabic  Authors  (London,  1890),  p.  27, 
asserts  that  the  irregular,  half  rhythmical,  half  rhyming  sentences  of  the 
Koran  were  the  first  attempts  in  the  direction  of  prose  in  Arabic  literature. 

144II  Burton's  translation,  Introduction  to  Vol.  I. 

n=  Chenery,  p.  49. 

"0  Goldziher,  p.  76. 


[102 


I'anillrlism   in  Amos  47 

of  the  Arabs,  tlic  Persians  and  the  Turks,  it  eoiitinues  ti>  iiiaiii- 
fost  itself  now  ami  then.  For  the  eharaeter  of  the  Islamic  lan- 
puages  lends  itself  with  siieh  readiness  and  responsiveness  to 
jiarallelisni  that  the  latter  eoiild  never  be  entirely  overwhelmed.'" 
And  it  was  probably  due  to  the  inii)ress  of  its  parallelistie  orifjin 
that  the  Arabic  poetry  has  always  maintained  an  extreme  sim- 
plieity  and  brevity  of  syntaetie  strueture,  deniandintr  that  the 
vej-se  (i.e.,  line)  stand  by  itself  as  a  syntaetie  unit.  It  is  true 
that  the  line  may  contain  as  many  as  thirty  syllables,  and  that, 
tlioufrh  each  line  must  in  {reneral  consist  of  two  metrically  c(|ual 
hemistiehs,  the  caesura  dividing.'  the  hcmistichs  may  fall  within 
a  word  and  the  line  as  a  whole  become  the  syntactic  unit  as  it 
is  normally  the  rhyme  unit ;  but  in  the  rajm  the  older  jKX'ts 
treat  the  single  stichos  (the  hemistich)  as  the  unit  and  rhyme 
all  the  hemistiehs;  and  the  fact  that  in  all  cla.ssical  poetry  the 
tii-st  line  nnist  be  so  treated — the  rhyme  must  appear  also  at  the 
tirst  caesura — shows  that  orifjinally  the  hemistich  was  the  .syn- 
tactic unit. 

The  lonp  usage  and  development  of  the  saj'  through  the 
mazes  of  Arabic  poetry  has  resulted  in  its  division  into  several 
branches,  not  all  of  which  are  valid  for  comparison  with  Hebrew 
parallelism.  The  individual  stichoi  arc  usually  of  the  same 
length,  but  the  second  and  sometimes  the  third  stichos  can  be 
longer  than  the  preceding;  the  finest  type  of  saj'  is  found  when 
the  individual  stichoi  contain  only  a  few  words,  from  two  to 
ten;  long  sentences  of  twenty  or  more  words  are  unwieldy  and 
weak.  This  agrees  substantially  with  the  Hebrew,  where  terse 
sentences  are  favored. 

Synonymous  parallelism  is  found  in  several  forms  in  the 
Arabic  and  kindred  literatures.  The  saj'  niuivtizan  is  the  closest 
appiiiach  thereto.      It  occurs  when  the  end  words  of  the  stichoi 


i«*  Stoingnss,  AMcmhliea  of  Ilariri  (London,  1897),  p.  iv:  "Arabic  ran 
do  very  vroll  without  punctuation  iK-cnusp  in  plompntary  ronipositions  tho 
cxtrcmp  simplicity  of  it.i  construction  scarcely  roc|uirPs  such  external  signs 
of  subilivision,  while  in  works  of  a  more  eintiornto  style  the  saj'  offers  a 
surtioient  equivalent  for  them.  The  rhyme  in  its  repetition  or  in  its  still 
more  frequent  recurrence  not  only  ilistinctly  marks  out  the  nienitiers  of  a 
proposition,  but  is  aUo  in  combination  with  the  parallelism  of  elevateil 
Oriental  diction,  a  great  help  to  tho  reailer  for  supplying  the  nece».snry 
TocaliiatioD. ' ' 


( J03 ; 


48  Parallelism  in  Amos 

agree  in  form,  but  not  necessarily  in  rhyme;  the  result  is  close 
parallelism : 

He  is  the  sun  in  majesty,  while  the  kings  are  stars; 

He  is  the  sea  in  generosity,  while  the  nobles  are  brooks. 

If  all  or  at  lea.st  a  majority  of  the  individual  words  of  one 
stichos  are  similar  in  form  to  the  corresponding  terms  of  the 
second  stichos,  this  figure  is  called  mumdthala.^*^  This  verse 
of  Abu  Tammam  is  an  example : 

(Maidens)   beautiful  as  gazelles,  only  that  tlie  latter  are  tame; 
Slender  as  reeds,  only  that  these  are  without  sap. 

The  use  of  the  root  mattial,  meaning  to  be  like,  to  resemble, 
proves  valuable  in  a  discussion  of  the  term  mdshul  as  the  Hebrew 
name  for  synonymous  parallelism."^ 

In  the  Persian,  the  saf  muitdzan  shows  the  same  identity 
with  the  Hebrew  parallelism  : 

The  Shah  art  thou,  the  might  of  whose  steeds  serves  as  a  guide ; 

The  Moon  art  thou,  the  victorious  strength  of  whose  swords  serves 


Or: 


The  envy  of  my  verses  devours  the  liver  of  Hussan  Sabi 
The  arm  of  my  prose  smitetli  the  neck  of  Sehbane  Wayi 


Kueekert  says  of  this  form:  "Both  the  tarsi'  and  the  saf 
)nuwuzan  are  the  most  perfect,  yet  at  the  same  time  most  rigid 
form  of  the  Hebrew  parallelismus  membrorum,  which  also  in 
many  eases  is  a  complete  parallelism  of  all  the  individual 
words. '  "^  This  parallelism  occurs  with  the  most  highly  devel- 
oped metres,  which  heighten  rather  than  hinder  the  synonymity 
of  the  terms. 

Slightly  similar  to  this  figure,  yet  showing  a  parallelism 
neither  so  perfect  nor  so  constant  is  the  saf  mutawdzl.  Here 
at  the  end  of  two  periods  of  prose  or  at  the  close  of  two  stichoi 
of  verse,  there  are  two  words  agreeing  in  measure,  rhyme,  and 
in  the  final  letter,  the  number  of  words  in  the  stichoi  being  also 
equal.      Though  it  is  not  always  the  case,  the  remaining  words 


n*  Mehren,  p.  Itififf;   Rueckert-Pertsch,  p.  104ff.     See  below,  p.  .59. 
H9  Rueckert-Pertseh,  p.  105. 

150  Gladwin,  p.    10.     Gladwin's  transliteration   of  the  proper   nam 
retained. 

151  Rueekert-Pertsch,  p.  106. 


I'ariilUlism  in  Amos  49 

of  one  stiehos  may  correspond  eitht-r  in  t'luni  uv  in  rliymc  with 
till'  nspectivt'  words  of  the  otlu-r: 

Without  support  am  I  tlirougli  the  cMitii'i-iuont  of  those  loi'ka  full  of 
ringlets, 

Without  slit'p  mil  I  through  the  flnttrry  of  thnt  oyo  full  of  ardour. 

Syiioiiyinous  purallelisin  may  also  be  found  in  the  tijrure  saj' 
miirassa' ,  tliougli  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  form  of  the  tarsV 
it  oeenrs  more  often  as  antitlutie  parallelism.  The  saj'  murassa' 
oeenrs  when  all  the  words  or  the  majority  of  those  in  one  section 
agree  in  form  and  in  rhyme  with  the  correspondiiifi  words  of  the 
second : 

He  studietl  the  parts  of  speech  with  the  jewels  of  his  words; 

He  intlueni-es  all  ears  with  the  warning-calls  of  his  preaching. 

This  formation  is  not  distinctive  of  rhymed  prose  alone,  but 
occurs  also  in  many  forms  of  verse;  in  this  selection  from  Abu 
Tamnmm,  all  the  sections  have  the  same  rhyme: 

Through  him  is  my  reason  enlightened;   through  him  niv  haml  well- 
filled  ; 
Through  him  my  brooklet  became  a  stream;   through  him  my  tinder 
a  torch. 

This  motif  ditfci's  from  the  saj'  muwazan  in  that  it  has  itlcntity 
iif  rhyme  and  .sound,  as  well  as  of  form. 

Antithetic  parallelism  has  many  varietiis  in  the  Arabic  and 
kindred  literatures.  When  each  stiehos  of  the  antithesis  con- 
tains several  ideas  arranged  in  order,  which  stand  exactly  oppo- 
site to  each  other,  the  figure  is  called  muqahala;  the  number  of 
these  opposing  concepts  ranges  from  two  to  ten.'^=  For  three 
and  three,  the  number  most  common  in  Hebrew  antithetic  par- 
allelism, this  verse  senses  as  an  example: 

IIow  beautiful  are  faith  and  riches  when  they  are  united: 
How  ugly  are  unl)oIief  and  poverty  in  one  and  the  same  man. 

Five  and  five  are  illustrated  by  a  verse  similar  to  this  one  from 
Ibn  Mu'tazz.  when-  the  individual  mtmbcrs  an-  heaped  up  in 
rows :'" 

Be  noble,  composed,  friendly,  well-esteemed  and  peaceful ; 

Or  be  faithless,  arrogant,  surly,  despised  and  belligerent. 


15S  On  antithesis,  see  Mehren,  p.  97ff. ;  on  muqilbala,  p.  99. 
>»i  Ahlwardt,  p.  74-75 ;   Dieterici,  p.  32-3.'>. 

[105) 


50  Parallrlisiii  in  Amos 

This  tj^pe  is  also  called  taficlf.  and  is  employed  on  occasion  by 
Mutanabbi. 

In  the  figure  of  tarsi' ,  which  springs  directly  from  the  saj' 
miirassa' .  antithetic  parallelism  is  also  found.    The  tarsi'  is  the 
complement  of  the  saj'    muwdzan,  or  synonymous   jiarallelisni. 
and  occurs  in  all  branches  of  Islamic  literature : 
Verily  the  righteous  are  in  heavenly  enjoyment; 
But  the  accursed  are  in  Gehenna. 

In  the  Persian  also,  the  tarsi'  sometimes  occurs  without 
antithesis : 

The  shower  of  God  's  grace  without  calculation  is  open  to  all ; 
And  the  table  of  his  kindness  is  prepared  in  all  places.isi 
At    times    the    tarsi'    is    joined    with    the    tajnls,   becoming 
tarsV    ma'    tajnis,   wherein   antithesis    occurs   most    often,    but 
where  synonymity  is  also  possible : 

I  shall  not  be  distressed,  if  you  do  not  distress  me; 
I  shall  be  wishful,  if  you  are  sportive. i-''^ 

Examples  of  antithetic  parallelism  occur  often  in  proverbs : 

Faith  is  the  medicine  of  every  grief; 
Doubt  only  raises  up  a  host  of  cares. 

Mere  falsehood  should  be  by  its  face  recognized. 
But  truth  by  parables  and  admonitions.i^e 

Syi^thetic  parallelism  can  be  said  to  exist  as  such  in  Arabic 
even  less  than  in  Hebrew.  In  Hebrew,  where  the  dominant 
motif  is  parallelism,  synthetic  couplets  are  usually  encompassed 
bj'  numerous  genuine  synonymous  or  antithetic  couplets;  so  in 
the  Arabic  khutha  and  maqdma  which  alone  show  long  arrays 
of  parallelistic  couplets,  and  of  course  in  strict  poetry,  where 
parallelism  is  the  exception,  not  the  rule,  synthetic  couplets  are 
engulfed  in  the  lab.yrinth  of  couplets  which  are  characterized 
by  various  rhymes  and  metres.  The  multitudinous  types  of 
rhymed  and  metrical  couplets,  it  is  true,  may  have  evolved  out 
of  the  synthetic  couplets;  but  the  line  of  demarcation  between 


15*  Rueckert-Pertsch,  pp.  88-89;   Fleischer,  Kleinere  SchrifUn.  II,  20(i. 

155  Gladwin,  p.  5. 

156  Nicholson,  p.  301.      Also: 

' '  Man  's  life  is  his  fair  name  and  not  his  length  of  years ; 
Man 's  death  is  his  ill  name,  and  not  the  day  that  nears. ' ' 

[106] 


I'iinillrlism   in  Amos  51 

so-eulk'il  syntlu'tie  parallelism  ami  noM-paralii'listif  couplets  is 
so  thin  that  it  is  futile  to  distin'ruisli  any  other  types  tiiuu  tin- 
elear  synonymous  and  antithetie. 

Examples  of  the  lon<f  continuity  of  parallilistie  eouplels  in 
the  DUKiiiDut,  written  in  the  saf .  i>r  rh.Miiiil  prose  strueture 
nuiy  lie  seen  in  this  exeerpt  from  llMriris  (luuiihrni  ealleil  tlie 
••Revei-sed":'^'' 

Mail  is  till-  croaturo  of  kiiiilne.is, 

Ami  the  porfooting  of  a  benefit  is  the  lieed  of  the  liberal; 
Anil  the  disposition  of  the  generous  is  n  treasure  of  praise. 

And   the  gain  of   thanks   is  a   gathering  of   happnicss; 
And  the  index  of  generosity  is  the  light  of  cheerfulness. 

.\nd  the  practiec  of  courtesy  leads  of  need  to  affection; 
.\iid  the  bond  of  friendship  demands  sincere  counsel; 

.\iid   truth   of   narrative   is  the   ornament   of   the  tongue; 
.\nd  elo<|uence  in  speech  is  witchcraft  to  hearts; 

.\nd  the  net  of  desire  is  the  bane  of  souls; 

.\nd  impatience  of  disposition  is  a  di.shonor  to  mortals. 

.'Vnd  evil  desire  consists  not  with   self-restraint; 

And  the  clinging  to  prudence  is  the  leading-cord  of  safety ; 

.\nd  to  seek  occasions  for  blamings  is  the  worst  of  faults: 
.\nd  the  dwelling  upon  failings  overthrows  friendships. 

The  pa.s.sape  eontinues  in  this  strain  for  many  parafjraplis.  and 
the  same  sustained  parallelism  can  be  found  throughout  the 
entire  work.  The  synonymity  between  the  terms  at  times  is 
elose  and  at  times  distant,  yet  the  parallelism  is  ind\d)itable. 

The  followin<r  example  from  Hurton's  translation  of  Xitrht 
204  of  the  Tlioiisiind  Xiyhts  and  a  Sii/ht  shows  parallelism  e.\- 
tendinjj  throuph  several  lines: 

This  is  the  writ  of  one  whom  pas-xion  swaycth, 

And  whom  longing  wnylayeth, 

And  wakeful  misery  slayeth; 

One  who  despnirrth  of  living. 
And  looketh  for  naught  but  dying; 


'5?  ("henery,  p.  202.  The  peculiarity  of  this  partifiilnr  cnmpnsition, 
The  Seventh  .\(wmbly,  is  that  the  words  themselves  when  reversed  produce 
a  perfect  sense. 

(107) 


Parallclisiii  in  Amos 


With  whose  mourning  heart 

Nor  comforter  nor  helper  taketh  part, 
One  whose  sleepless  eyes 

None  succoureth  from  anxieties; 

Whose  day  is  passed  in  fire 

And  his  night   in  torturing  desire. 


A  word  must  be  said  on  the  presence  in  Arabic  of  a  form 
identical  with  the  Hebrew  qhid,  or  elegy.^'"     The  rhytlim  of  an 

old  Arabic  elegy  has  been  designated  as : —  —  j ;  it 

is  supposed  to  have  developed  out  of  numerically  undisciplined 
saj' ,  which  was  employed  in  ancient  times  not  only  in  the 
orations  and  epics,  but  also  in  songs  of  mourning.  It  is  closely 
associated  with  the  rise  and  development  of  the  rajaz  metre.^^'-' 
A  couplet  which  shows  the  similarity  to  the  Hebrew  style  is  the 
following :"» 

Why  hast  thou  trampled  him — the  man? 

Why  hast  thou  killed  him — oh  camel? 

The  following  conclusions  may  then  be  made  in  regard  to 
Arabic  parallelism : 

1.  Parallelism  exists  in  Arabic,  Persian,  and  Ottoman  poetry, 
together  with  varied  rhymes  and  metres;  the  figures  wherein 
parallelism  is  present  do  not.  however,  show  the  true  historic 
nature  of  parallelism. 

2.  Parallelism  exists  inherently  and  genuinely  in  the  saf , 
or  unmetrical  poetry  or  rhymed  prose.  Originally  the  saj'  must 
have  been  unrhymed  and  luimetrical,  distinguished  only  by  the 
parallelism.  In  this  primitive  stage  it  was  contemporaneous 
with  early  Hebrew  poetry.  Arabic  poetry,  however,  followed 
a  different  line  of  evolution,  and  in  time  added  to  the  saj'  rhyme, 
which  became  even  more  important  than  the  parallelism.  From 
this  rhyme  developed  the  numerous  species  of  rhyme  in  the  later 
parallelism.  In  addition,  the  rajaz  metre  developed  and  disci- 
plined tlu'  saj'  ;  from  it  grew  tlie  multitude  of  metres  wliich 
characterize  later  Arabic  poetry. 


issKoenig,  Sti/Ustil-,  p.  316;  and  Hehraeische  Rhiithmil-   (Halle,  1914), 
pp.  14-15;  Wetzstein,  Z.  f.  Ethnologie,  V  (1873),  297ff. 
159  Goldziher,  p.  77ff. 
lo"  See  also  below,  note  167. 

[108] 


riniillilisiii  in  Amos  5^ 

:5.  I'nrnlli'Iisiu  in  Aruliii*  is  syiitiiiyinoiis  in  tin-  (i-rinis  s<ij' 
nniinlzanu,  saj'  niKrassa'  and  suf  iiii(l(urri:i,  ttc  It  is  anti- 
tlu'tic  in  the  tifrures  iiniqi'ibala  anil  tursV ,  and  otlu-rs.  Syntliotii; 
parallilism  as  sncli  dot's  not  I'xist  in  Araliii-  poetry.  (Jiinl  is 
also  present  in  Aialiie,  and  the  kindred  literatures. 

A  tinal  tinestioii  arises  with  referenee  to  tiio  saf .  (!ray 
points  out  that  tiie  saf  stands  intermediately  between  tiie  form 
nuthr,  prase  anil  luithin  or  shi'r,  inetrieal  p(M'try.""  The  niju: 
metre  he  takes  as  the  transitional  style  between  nnuietiieal  and 
imtrieal  ])oetry.  (iray  then  asks:  Is  it  po.ssil)le  that  in  Ili-hrew, 
not  two.  hut  three  forms  of  eomposition  shonlil  he  reeojrnixed — 
metrieal  jioetry,  and  plain  prose,  antl  an  intermediate  type 
"ditTerinjj  from  jjoetry  by  the  absenee  of  metre,  and  from  pro.se 
by  obedienee  to  certain  laws  f^overnint;  the  mutual  relations 
between  its  elauses — a  type  for  whieh  we  mifrht  as  makeshifts 
employ  the  ti'rms  unmetrieal  poetiy  or  parallelistie  prose?" 
It  is  not  possible  here  to  answer  this  (luestioii;  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  postpone  even  an  attempt  at  a  nply  until  the  material 
in  several  portions  of  tln'  bililieal  writing's  shall  have  bei-n 
reexamined. "'- 

NEO-ARABIC 

The  Neo-Arai>ie  poetry  whieh  is  sunfr  by  the  eonnnou  people 
totlay  atTorils  nniny  i)arallels  to  the  aneient  Hebrew.  A  eollee- 
lion  »)f  Arabic  songrs  entitled  Sonys  of  an  Erjuptuin  Peasant 
portrays  the  three  major  stapes  of  early  poetry,  iteration.  y^ 
incremental  repetition,  and  i)arallelism."''  Iteration  is  not  so 
frec|uent  JUS  incremental  repetition,  of  which  the  following 
example.s  amon^;  many  suffice : 

Oh  Stmiiimr,  wlmt  has  become  of  me,  Sliiimmc, 
WTiom  thou  lottest  restlos-sly  wnmliT  nl>oiit,  Shnmmc, 
Whom  thou  lottcsit  hun|;or,  Shanimo, 

i"'  Cirny,  p.  ■^^.  In  rersinn,  the  pro!«»  consists  of  thrcr  typos:  1,  poetical 
prose,  hnvinj;  nn-asurt'  without  rhyme;  2,  hnvin(»  rhyme  without  any  moa.s- 
uac;  3,  simple  prose,  ilevoiil  of  rhyme  ami  measure.  Neither  rhyme  without 
mea-'ure,  nor  measure  without  rhyme  is  |M>etry;  it  is  necessary  that  both 
should  be  combined  to  form  verse.  (jlailwin,  p.  1:  Rueck<TtI'ertsch, 
pp.  M-55. 

i«3  See  Ih'Iow,  on  .\nu>s,  p.  20<i. 

•*'  Sehnofer,  Sonr;*  nf  an  Egyplian  rriutitnt,  collecteil  anil  translated 
into  German;   EnKU.s'h  edition  by  V.  H.  Brea.ited   ( I^ipzig,  lOOt  i. 


54  ParaUelisin  in  Amos 

Whom  thou  lettest  thirst,  Shanime, 
What  has  become  of  me,  Shamnie, 
Verily  I  would  go  to  Syria  for  the  sake  of  Shamme. 

An  example  of  repetition  and  aseeiidinf;'  tliought,  as  in  some  of 
the  Bible  poems,  is  found  in  this : 

The  baby  gazelle,  my  children. 

Goes  behind  its  mother  to  tlie  pasture, 

It  goes  to  the  pasture  without  auy  shoes, 

With  little  feet  bare. 
And  : 

Thou  Alexandrian  bath! 

O  bath,  how  wretchedly  tlioii  art  made, 

O  bath,  and  it  was  made  Ijy  me; 

O   bath,  and  nobody   but   myself. 

Antithetic-  parallelism  is  evident  here : 

If  we  luive  done  something  badly,  then  reprove  us, 
And  if  we  have  been  thy  sons,  then  content  us. 

Alternate  parallelism  in  a  (piatrain  is  presi-nt  in  tliis: 

TIic  eye  is  black  from  Allah, 

Wherefore  theu   tlie  eye-paint? 
And  tlie  clieek  is  red  from  Allah, 

Wherefore  theu  Joseph 's-beauty? 

Other  illustrations  an-  at   hand  in  the  eolleetion;  these  suffice, 
however,  to  demonstrate  similarities  to  Ilelirew  parallelism. 

Littman's  Neo-Arabic  Folk-pocfrii  is  full  of  suggestions  for 
the  Old  Testament  student  to  which  attention  has  already  been 
called  by  Freiherr  von  Gall.^"*  Littman  asserts  that  many  of 
these  genuine  folk  poems  from  Egypt,  Palestine  and  Syria  are 
written  in  a  kind  of  rhymed  prose;  the  lack  of  a  definite  measure 
many  indicate  that  also  in  the  Old  Testament  verses  of  a  similar 
character  are  at  least  possible  without  a  fixed  metre. "'''■  Litt- 
man believes  it  possible  ln'cause  of  the  long-standing  stability 
of  orii-ntal  forms  that  the  aneii'ut  (///((/-measure  is  still  nsi-d  in 
Palestine."'"' 


iMLittmann,  Neuarabi.s'clic  rollspoesic  (Berlin,  1902);  Call,  "Par- 
allellen  zum  Alten  Testament  aus  E.  Littmann 's  Neuarabische  Volkspoesie," 
ZATW,  1904,  p.  42ff. 

1I55  Littman,  p.  88. 

i'-"!  Ihid,  p.  90. 

[110] 


I'tinillclisni  in  Anius  55 

I   will  wound   my  cliwk   for  thy  .siik.-,  C)  my   broth.T  . .  .  ami   let   tlir 

blouil  flow, 
And  1  will  keep  tliy  tiliivo  by  my  siile  tliroo  munthii . .  .  for  liim  whom 

tlioy  carriod  away. 

I   will   ropoat  it,  my   brother,  and  say  .  . .  and   will  eontinue  to  danee 

for  you, 
And   if   people  a.sk   of   me,    1    will    tell    them  .  .  .  my    dear    brother   has 

gone  away.'"' 

It  .sl...iil.l  I..-  i..d,',l  also  that  stn.|.liic  strm-lmv.  wliil,'  it  is 
lu-vi'f  fdiiiul  in  tlu'  strii'tly  I'la.ssical  |)oitry,  is  i'airly  ffci|nciit 
ill  till'  folk-ptii'tfy.  Tlifit  this  al.so  may  lio  a  survival  t'foin  aiu-it'iit 
times  is  shown  by  tin-  fact  that  oiit.sidc  of  tin-  t-la.ssical  forms 
tluMc  aiv  found  fairly  old  prototy]H-s  of  tlu-  so-eallcd  Xco- 
Araliie  forms.  As  early  as  the  second  centiii-y  after  .Mniiammad 
tliei-e  afe  i-efefeiiccs  to  poems  with  short  lilies  ^rroiiped  liy  vaiy- 
iii<;  rhyme  info  strophes.  (If  a  later  date  examples  of  the 
wiiu'<ishshii\  are  found  in  preati-r  variety;  the  departure  from 
the  restrictions  of  the  canonical  laws  of  metre  and  rhyme  arc 
coiisiderahle.  and  the  strophic  structure  is  clearly  marked  hy 
refrnins.  Poems  of  this  sort  make  use  not  only  of  iK))iiilar 
speech  (•rramiiiatieal  forms  without  case-cndiiif.'s),  but  some  of 
them  arc  written  in  the  strictly  classical  laiifruayre.  It  may  be 
that  the  ;iM(i(v;.\7i.s7i</^  is  not  in  reality  a  later  development  out 
of  the  classical  poetic  structure,  but  an  independent,  parallel 
development  out  of  the  more  primitive  Semitic  type,  always 
maintained  amon^  the  jicoplc  but  deemed  unworthy  of  imitation 
by  the  classicists  and  ixcliuled  from  tin-  boily  of  written  litera- 
atnre."'" 

AbYSSI.SUN    P.\K.\I.l.r.L.lSM 

A  colhction  of  SoiifTs  of  the  Tifrre  tribes  of  Abyssinia  also 
shows  point.s  of  similarity  to  the  ancient  Hebrew."'  Traces  of 
parallelism  may  bo  found  in  these  selections: 


i*'  Ibid.,  pp.  47,  14-17,  4tl,  120;  seo  above,  on  Arable  i/iiKi.  Other  col- 
lections of  Neo-Ambic  poetry  wherein  reseniblanres  to  the  nneient  Hebrew 
mar  be  found  are:  Dalman,  Palacntinitchrr  Diican  (Leipzig,  1901),  cited 
bv  Orav,  p.  14."i;  Smith,  p.  l.'t;  Saehau,  "Arab.  Volkstliedor  nus  Me»o- 
pitamie'n,"  in  .4bh.  d.  Brrl.  Akad..  1889. 

'«•' llartniann,  Ihii  arabimhr  .Slrnphmiiedirht  (Weimar,  1S97),  p.  11.1 
and   itiiiunm. 

><*«  Littmann,  "  Lieiler  der  TiKreStnemme,"  Publicaliont  of  Princtton 

[111] 


56  I'ardlleli.siii  In  Ainos 

1  will  glorify  thee,  O  Lord, 

Thy  deeds  are  marvelous! 
This  night  he  created, 

And  he  created  this  morning; 
This  milk  he  created, 

And  he  created  this  corn ; 
This  sun  he  created. 

And  he  created  this  shadow. 

Or 

Be  but  still  O  Heramad, 

If  you  would  appease  me! 
When  the  elephant  is  tamed, 

And  with  burdens  of  milk  returns  homo ; 
When  the  female  elephant  is  bound, 

And  with  the  cows  gives  milk. 
When  the  lion  becomes  a  shepherd, 

And  is  at  peace  with  cows  and  calves. 
When  the  panther  protects. 

And  from  a  bound  udder  drinks. 
When  the  mountain-goat  rolls  straight  up  the  mountain. 

And  remains  hanging  on  the  precipice. 
When  the  torrent  turns  round. 

And  pours  on  the  highlands. 
When  the  heaven  becomes  a  field. 

And  the  tribes  wander  over  it, 
When  the  field  becomes  heaven, 

And  spreads  wide  over  us. 

Xorldcke  affirms  that  the  mrtrieal  form  of  these  poems  resembles 
ill  some  respects  the  ancient  Ilehri'w."'" 

Though  the  comparison  witli  this  Mk  i>oetry  of  near- 
Palestinian  and  Palestinian  eountries  exteiuls  to  only  a  few 
isolated  phenomena,  yet  these  are  valuable  as  throwing  light 
upon  the  ancient  Ilelirew;  it  is  true  that  they  bear  little  on  the 
snlijeet  of  iiarailelisiu.  f(ir  aftei-  all,  no  such  regularity  as  in  the 
liiblical  |)o('try  is  iiiaintaiiicd,  repetitions  and  prose  being  con- 
tinuously interspersed,  the  former  particularly  in  large  degree ; 
but  the  character  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  rin-thm  and  metre 
receive  some  elucidation  from  them,  because  they  appear  to  have 
guarded  the.  i)riiiiitive  forms  for  centuries,  untouched  by  any 
alien  influence. 


Expedition  to  Abyssinia,  ITI,  IV  (Levden,  1913-1915)  ;  selections  fr 
856,  and  775-776  respectively. 
^'■■'■'ZA,  XXXI  (191C),  l.S. 

[  112  J 


Parallel imil  in  Amus  57 

llKllKEW    I'AHAI.I.Kl.lS.M 

Till'  earliest  appeiinuice  of  parallelism  in  Ileliivw  poetry  eaii 
seareely  lie  ileteniiiiud.  I'lieliaiifred  iteration  after  the  manner 
of  the  E^ryptian  an<l  the  Sninerian  is  not  found  in  the  Hilile 
exeept  in  artistieally  introdneeil  refrains,  where,  howevi'r,  tiny 
are  surrounded  hy  regular  ]iarallelisin  and  oeeiir  at  rejrular 
intervals.  Inerrmental  rejietition  is  pnseiit,  thon-rh  as  a  ty|)e 
of  lii-rhly  developed  parallelism.  The  identity  of  the  two  lines 
in  this  eouplet  produees  a  stronj:  jiodie  elVeet,  thon^'ii  tiie  text 
itself  is  doubtful  (Is.  15.1)  : 

Iiiu-iiiKlit    'tisiUvstroyoil,  ArMoiil)  i.s-ruiiied; 

Iiiii-iiiKlit   'tis-ilestroyi'd,  Kir-Monb  is  ruiiieil. 

Tin-  rtason  for  the  diftieulty  in  traeinyr  the  origin  and  expansion 
of  parallelism  in  Hebrew  lies  in  the  faet  that  even  the  most 
nneient  poems  alreatly  pos.se.ss  a  re<rular  and  intrieate  i)arallel- 
istie  strueture.  Thoujih  the  areliaie  sonjis  may  have  eome  down 
in  the  lanjrua^re  and  the  form  of  the  prophetie  writei-s  of  the 
periods  of  jjreat  literary  aetivity  amon<,'  the  Hebrews,  there  is 
nothinfr  to  ar<;ue  ajrainst  the  presenee  of  paralhlism  even  in 
their  orijiinal  form.  The  Soiif,'  of  Laiueeli  ((;en.  4.2.']  ft.)  and 
other  snatehes  of  jjrimilive  Hebrew  poitry  betray  a  fully  di-- 
velopod  iiarallelism,  to^rether  with  almost  all  the  other  poetie 
deviees  of  the  later  literature;  henee  it  is  virtuall.v  impossible 
to  eut  throu^'h  to  the  pristine  bej.'inninjrs  of  Hebrew  parallelism 
with  a  vii'w  to  an  analysis  of  its  steps  of  historic  development. 
A  slijjht  fund  of  evidence  is  discoverable  in  the  pa-ssajjes 
which  refer  to  the  habit  of  the  women  of  the  early  Hebnws  in 
improvisintr  verses  on  occasions  of  exidtation  and  triumpli.  The 
oripins  of  antiphonal  sin^in?  may  be  found  here.  Tradition 
reports  that  Moses  witli  the  Israelites  chanted  his  ode  at  the 
Red  Sea  in  nsponsive  fashion,  the  chorus  takinjr  up,  niodify- 
injr  and  supplenientinjr  the  thouphts  cxpre.s.sed  by  the  leader. 
"Miriam,  the  prophetess,  tm)k  a  timbrel  in  her  hand,  and  all 
the  women  followed  her  wrth  timbrels,  and  with  dances,  and 
^(iriam  answered  them"   (Ex.  15.20).''°     Another  reference  is 


ITO  For   similar    riistoins    nmnnf;   other    primitivo    peoples,    aoc   Gummcrc, 
p.  264ff. 

(113] 


58  ParaUclis}!!  in  Amos 

found  in  I  Sam.  18.7,  whore  tlie  "women  who  played  answered 
one  another,"  singing,  first  one  group: 

Saul  Iiath  slain  his  thousauds, 
tlie  other  answering: 

And  David  his  ten  thousands. 

This  custom  seems  to  have  rejjresented  a  hjng  historic  process, 
and  rather  explains  the  methods  in  which  parallelism  was 
employi  d  than  the  rise  of  parallelism  itself;  s'lch  antiphonal 
singing  and  responsion  is  a  practice  common  to  many  peoples, 
and  is  not  accompanied  of  necessity  by  parallelism.  After  long 
usage  in  the  Temple  liturgy,  antiphonal  singing  passed  into  the 
Christian  Church,  when  two  divisions  of  the  choir  sang  the 
psalms  or  hymns  alternately  by  strophes:  sometimes  this  was 
done  by  single  verses  or  lines,  so  that  the  same  section  of  the 
choir  always  sang  the  latter  half  of  a  couplet,  similar  in  a  way 
to  the  practice  of  composition  employed  by  the  Finnish  bards. ^'^ 
By  this  time,  however,  parallelism  had  attained  high  literary 
form ;  thougli  originally  it  maj"  have  arisen  from  this  practice 
of  alternate  singing  between  a  leader  and  a  chorus,  it  is  more 
plausible  to  believe  that  the  couplet  structure  of  parallelism 
stands  entirely  aiiart  from  the  antiphonal  singing;  its  origins  in 
Hebrew  may  be  based  upon  the  long  tradition  which  had  come 
down  througii  tlic  Sumeriau  and  Babylonian-Assyrian  literature. 
Two  terms  ajiparently  were  used  to  designate  parallelism  in 
the  Hebrew.  The  word  U'nift,  "answer"  or  "respond,"  is  used 
with  reference  to  antiphonal  singing,  though  incidentally  its 
meaning  of  "answer"  ma.y  siguifv  the   fact  that   one   stichos 


I'l  On  Jewish  Temple  music  in  the  early  Christian  church,  see  Reider, 
Review  of  a(saci)<ic  (I.  jemenisrhiit  Jiuhu.'X.  Z.  l.l.lsohn,  JQR,  n.s.,  VII 
(1917),   6.3;-ft-.      "It    is   a   well-k.i..w„    t:,   i    •:  \hr    Amiirosian    and 

Gregorian  chants  which  lay  at  tin'  fnm  i  i.ni  niusir,  in  spite 

of  being  based  on  Greek  modes,  arc  .b   \  .    nid  must  have  liad 

their   origin   in   Tcmidc   niu'^ir    icf.    I'.i     .    .';  >;/,    il,    In    him.vi./hc, 

which  closely  rcs.'ii.l^Ii  -  th.    i^i   iMi|ii'    ..f  ji:!!  :illi-l)^i;i   in   ll-lniM    inirtri,  but 

also  their  affinitv  :,i,.l    |.n- lilr.-u....    m,    ici.mr   i Irs   likr   tlir    I  lirvuinu    and 

thr  b.t;ll   .rlij.M.  of  tlio   Ly.liau   ln:i    <.i      f  ..ni    ::      -iipiiort   to   tills  asscltiuu.      If 

tlH'N'nri'  :!s  u.'  have  reason  to  is  a  continuity  between  the 

'J'riKjl,     mrlihlirs  and   those   of   tl;      ■ •        \  iiagogue,  a   comparison   be- 

twri'ii  th,'  l:itt(T  and  the  so-calh-!  ■  kiIi-  imjiius'  of  the  Church  can  be 
instriH-tiv  in  islablishing  once  for  nil  tlir  d.-ivc  of  influence  of  the  Temple 
on  the  early  Church  in  the  field  of  music,"  p.  639. 

[lU] 


I'dnillilisiii  ill  Amos  59 

••aiisw.-rs"  to  aiiotliiT  in  tli.-  i-oiiplrl  ;  fur  this  (•..miotatioM,  liuw- 
I'vor,  MO  instaiKH's  are  at  liaml."-'  It  is  .•.iiiaily  ilirticiill  to  tell 
wlietht'i-  the  word  iiu'islu'tl  refers  to  parallelism.  In  the  Araliie, 
it  has  been  seen  that  the  saf  iiiiiiiuHhU  denotes  synonymons 
parallelism.  The  correspondin'r  llihrew  verl)  iiidshi'il  orijjinally 
means  "to  rejjresent,  to  be  like";  and  for  the  aneient  Hebrews, 
the  noun  ntdshfil  was  used,  usually  in  the  Wisdom  literature,  of 
soutenees  constnicted  in  parallelism,  but  oeeasionally  of  other 
types;'"'  it  moans  also  a  "parable,"  or  "sentenees  of  (loetry." 
It  does  not.  however.  ap])ear  to  desi>;nate  sharply  and  dircetly 
the  formation  of  parallelistie  eouplets,  thoujrh  the  parable,  the 
proverb,  the  riddle,  or  the  prophetic  <i«rurative  diseourse  were 
almost  always  east  in  couplet  or  triplet  formation.  In  this  con- 
nection, it  is  signiticant  to  note  that  a  study  of  literary  style 
does  not  receive  much  attention  until  the  Middle  Afres.  thoufih 
Philo  and  .loseplius  made  feeble  etVorts  in  this  direction;  David 
Kindii  and  his  contemporaries  are  perhaps  the  first  to  >jrive  to 
parallelism  a  distinctive  api)ellation.  The  fact  that  seemingly 
the  ancient  Hebrews  had  no  definite  term  to  apply  to  the  specific 
process  of  formiii'T  ciuiplets  of  parallelism,  but  referred  rather 
to  the  type  of  poetic  result  or  totality,  namely  the  poem  itself, 
mi-rid  indicat<'  that  the  use  of  parallelism  was  not  a  deliberate 
or  fixid  si  vie;  but  this  conclusion  is  bv  no  means  a  necessarv  one. 


CONrLrsiON.s 
It  is  now  possible  to  present  conclusions  on  the  ori'^'in  of 
parallelism.  Parallelism  has  its  seat  in  a  psycholofrii-al  tiiidency 
of  tlu"  human  mind  to  repeat  a  favorite  thoutrht  in  ditlVrent 
words;  tliis  impulse  operates  most  freely  and  vigorously  in 
moments  of  lyrical  excitement,  though  guided  and  chastened  by 
a  .second  psychological  propensity  towards  orderliness  and  organ- 
ization. The  nmnifrstation  of  thise  poetic  principles  appears  in 
ancient  literatures,  where  they  take  fii-st  the  form  of  reiteration, 
then  of  incremental  repetition,  and  finally  of  artistic  parallelism. 


'"Brown,  DririT  ami  BricKft,  .1  //. /.-.  ir  .1.1./  H„,ihj.li  l.,j 
BDB]  (Boston,  lUOii),  p.  777. 
>'3  Ibid.,  p.  eO.'j. 

(II.-,) 


GO  Parallelism  in  Amos 

The  earliest  iise  of  parallelism  seems  to  be  bound  up  with  the 
antiphonal  song  of  the  poet  and  the  crowd,  and  the  formulas  of 
sootlisaj-ers. 

Parallelism  being  the  result  of  a  universal  human  instinct 
maj-  have  arisen  independently  in  the  numerous  literatures 
where  it  is  found.  In  Chinese  literature,  its  rise  and  develop- 
ment are  indigenous  and  date  back  three  thousand  years;  in 
Finnish  literature  it  is  equally  old,  and  is  apparently  entirely 
native,  being  unaffected  by  foreign  influences.  Though  bound 
by  a  special  metre,  Finnish  is  nnich  looser  and  freer  than  the 
Chinese  parallelism,  which  is  assisted  by  several  external  mechan- 
ical devices  which  tend  to  make  its  forms  stereotyped  and  rigid. 
Both  stand  entirely  apart  from  the  parallelism  of  the  ancient 
peoples  of  the  near-East. 

These  include  the  Egyptian,  Sumerian,  Babylonian- Assyrian, 
Arabic,  and  Hebrew  literatures.  Each  of  these  may  have  cre- 
ated and  developed  parallelism  by  entirely  local  agencies;  no 
alien  influences  may  have  been  at  work.  Yet  the  geographical 
proximity  of  these  peoples  and  the  fairly  complete  chain  of 
chronological  evolution  points  to  some  contact  and  interplay  of 
influence.  The  earliest  extant  parallelism  obtains  in  Egyptian 
literature.  Thcragh  fairly  constant,  it  is  marred  by  frequent 
repetitious;  its  couplet  structure  is  vagiie  and  irregular.  By 
some  it  is  supposed  that  Hebrew  parallelism  took  its  origin  from 
the  Egyptian.  On  the  assumption  that  the  Egyptians  were  a 
non-Semitic  people,  though  this  of  course  has  been  disputed, 
Breasted  asks:  Did  the  Semites  obtain  this  style  of  verse  from 
the  Egyptians,  or  vice-versa ?^'^  Philo  a.sserts  in  De  Vita  Mosis 
(I,  5)  that  Moses  was  taught  by  the  Egyptians  "the  whole  theory 
of  rhythm,  harmony  and  metre."  But  such  evidence  naturally 
counts  for  little ;  though  Hebrew  undoubtedlj'  borrowed  much 
from  the  Egyptians,  the  period  and  extent  of  this  influence  can- 
not be  shown.  The  high  state  of  Hebrew  parallelism  and  the 
low  stage  of  Egyptian,  indicate  a  broad  hi.storical  gap  between 
the  two  wliich.  if  a  nexus  between  them  can  be  estalilished.  nuist 
be  bridged. 

1-4  Bihiinil  Wui-ld,  I,  56.  --  _^ 

[116] 


l\ir,ill,lisn,   i„  Amos  Gl 

Simn'riaii  imnilK-lisiii  st't-ins  to  ln'  the  iii'Xt  step  after  tlic 
p]^'\  ptiaii.  Without  entering:  into  tlu'  ilflmtable  (iiit'stiou  of 
till'  racial  patrimony  of  tlif  Suincrians,  two  liypotlirscs  on  tlu- 
appt-arant'i'  of  parallelism  in  their  literature  are  possible.  Either 
the  Kjryptian  literature  atfeeted  the  Suineriaii  and  thus  stiiiui- 
lated  it  to  an  advanee  in  the  refiularity  of  its  parallelism,  for  de- 
sjiite  its  repetitions,  it  shows  a  more  obvious  eou[)let  strueture; 
or  Sumerian  parallelism  arose  loeally  and  of  its  own  aeeord. 
without  any  interehanj^e  between  Efryptian  and  Mesopotamian 
cultures.  Thus  if  it  be  aeeepted  that  both  Kjryptians  and 
Suinerians  were  non-Semitic  peoples,  the  substratum  of  ancient 
parallelism  may  have  l}ecn  in  eontradislinclioii  to  the  usual 
opinion,  non-Semitic. 

The  third  link  in  the  chain  of  near-Ejmtern  parallelism  may 
l>ind  the  Sumerian  with  the  Babylonian-A.s.syrian.  The  fact 
that  so  many  of  the  As.syrian  hymns  were  copies  from  the 
Sumerian,  as  the  bilingual  texts  prove,  may  indicate  that  the 
latter  undi'riies  the  varied  Babylon ian-A.ssjrian  parallelism. 
Sehrader  champions  the  view  that  the  "Akkadians"  were  the 
profjenitors  and  earliest  teaehei-s  of  parallelism  to  the  Semites, 
tir-st  to  the  Habylonians  and  then  to  the  Hebrews.  But  little 
evidence  is  at  hand  to  show  that  the  Hebrews  learned  parallelism 
from  the  Suiuerians  '•durin<;r  their  sojourn  in  Siiu-ar,  in  I'r  of 
the  Chaldees  before  they  wantlercd  to  the  North  and  WtsI,  in 
order  to  settle  pernumcntly  in  Canaan."'"'  Even  if  the  Hebrews 
luul  been  introduced  into  parallelism  fnmi  this  source,  its  further 
development  must  have  come  from  contact  with  Babylonian  ]iar- 
allelism. 

For  the  transmission  of  Babylonian-A.s.syrian  forms  to  Hebrew 
literature  eon.stitutes  the  next  link  in  the  chain  of  parallcli.sm. 
The  similarity  of  Babylonian  to  Hebrew  strophic  and  vei-se 
forms — the  metrical,  accentual,  and  other  likene.s,ses — points  to 
direct  interplay  between  the  two  civilizations  and  literatures.''" 
Though  the  Babylonian  staiuis  clearly  ahead  of  the  Sumerian 


'"  8<>hrn.li>r,  '  •S.Miiifisniiis. '  •  I,   iLMff. 

i'«BauinanD,  Dii-  SIrtnk  und  d.  A.  T.  (Tucbiiim-ii.  lOOr,),  pp.  .".2  ."..T; 
Borgpr,  "Loa  ori(tii>es  iMibyloiiions  <lo  la  pwsic  sacrfrp  ilos  Hebnnix, " 
.iHnalfs  du  Uuafe  Ouimrt.  Biblwlh.  de  vulgnriKntin,,.  XVI    (1904),  2t!-84. 


62  T'dfuUdism  ill  Amos 

and  the  Egj-ptiau,  it  does  not  attain  in  regularity  of  couplet 
structure  and  the  absence  of  repetitions,  the  beauty  of  the 
Hebrew.  It  may  be  said  to  stand  intermediately  between 
Sumerian-Egyptian  and  Hebrew.  This  by  no  means  implies 
that  the  ancient  Israelites  took  over  bodily  Babylonian  par- 
allelism and  otlier  poetic  forms  of  expression.  Moreover,  the 
earliest  point  at  wliich  outside  parallelism  entered  the  Hebrew 
cannot  be  determined,  because  the  most  ancient  poems  extant 
betray  a  fully  developed  parallelistic  formation. 

A  similar  i^roblem  is  bound  up  in  a  consideration  of  Arabic 
parallelism.  Hitherto  the  statements  made  as  to  the  rise  and 
gradual  expansion  of  parallelism  have  been  largely  conjectural; 
an  even  wider  range  of  hypothetical  reconstruction  is  demanded 
with  reference  to  tlie  origins  of  the  Arabic.  The  earliest  avail- 
able literature  of  tlie  Arabs  dates  back  only  a  liundred  years  or 
more  l)efore  IMoluunmed.  ParaUelism  is  present  in  the  form  of 
tlie  .s7/./\  already  marked  by  rhyme.  Though  Goldziher  postu- 
lati  s  a  time  when  the  saj'  possessed  neither  metre  nor  rh^ine, 
the  question  arises  as  to  how  far  back  this  period  extends. 
Despite  the  tenacity  with  which  the  desert  Bedouin  Arabs  main- 
tained their  customs,  exemplified  in  part  by  a  comparison  of  the 
Neo-Arabie  poetry  with  the  ancient  Hebrew,  it  is  too  wild  a  leap 
in  the  dark  to  say  that  contemporaneous  with  the  Babylonian- 
Assyrian  pai'allelism,  an  Arabic  prototype  existed.  The  desert 
tribes  may  have  possessed  at  that  time  no  literature  whatsoever ; 
this  would  imply  that  Arabic  parallelism  arose  either  indig- 
enously or  from  contact  with  the  surrounding  peoples  where 
parallelism  was  employed,  the  Babylonians  or  the  Hebrews. 
There  are  signs  of  a  primitive  union  of  Arabic  with  Hebrew, 
and  in  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  itself  there  are  several  instances 
of  couplets  wliich  sliow  marked  resemblance  to  the  unrhj-med 
siij\  But  if  ever  a  primitive  junction  between  Hebrew  and 
Arabic  existed  in  unrecorded  eras,  Arabic  poetry  traced  an 
entirely  different  course  of  evolution;  the  Hebrew  remained  true 
to  its  ancient  origins;  only  when  it  comes  into  clash  with  the 
Greek,  Latin,  and  early  Christian  poetic  forms,  does  the  long 
maintained  parallelism  surrender;  Arabic,  however,  adds  to  the 

[118] 


I'anilli  Usui  in  Amos  60 

mirliyini'd  and  iimm-trifal  saf  first  a  varied  rliyiiu' ;  tlicii 
met  re.  first  of  siiiipii'  tlicii  of  iiiullifarioiis  character ;  liiiaily 
till*  paraiiidism  of  flic  ,s-(//  is  ovcrwliclnicil,  Imt  rmt  ciitiivly 
lost,  tliroujrii  tin-  adoption  and  pi'i-fci-tion  of  couiitliss  poetical 
ineehaiiieal  iloviees.  Thus  the  diftieulty  of  elassifyiiij;  Arabic 
ill  the  chronology  of  parallelistic  evolution  may  be  readily  pir- 
ccived.  It  is  best  to  ascribe  to  it  an  independent  ()ri!.'in.  and 
to  say  of  the  Hebrew,  that  it  drew  nonrishnn-nf  from  the  totality 
of  parallelistic  f;ro\vtli  represented  by  the  apparently  steady 
ascent  from  Efryptian-Sumerian  tlirou'ih  Babylonian-Assyrian 
into  the  Hebrew.  Arabic  may  be  a  side-stream  in  the  current 
of  evolution;  its  role  cannot  be  approximated.  In  the  Hebrew, 
however,  parallelism  received  the  stroiifrest  impulse  for  hi^rh 
poetic  expression. 

A  summary  of  conclusions  on  tlii'  oriirins  of  iiarallillsi]!  may 
be  briefly  put  as  follows  : 

1.  IJoth  I'hinese  and  Finnish  parallelism  arise  independently 
of  any  outside  influences. 

li.  The  chronological  line  of  developnu-nt  of  near-Eastern,  or 
.Mediterranean-Mesopotamian  parallelism  seems  to  be  as  follows: 
Egyptian,  Sumeriaii,  Babylonian-Assyrian,  and  Hebrew.  Arabic 
may  have  been  contemporaneous  with  the  Babylonian-As.syrian 
or  with  the  Hebrew. 

:{.  K  a  non-Semitic  sulistratum  for  parallelism  is  postulated, 
it  may  be  supposed  that  Egyjitian  an<l  Sumerian,  regarded  as 
non-Semitic,  each  arose  iiidependently  of  the  other,  or  through 
some  interchange;  that  Babylonian-Assyrian  grew  out  of  Sumer- 
ian: that  Hebrew  grew  out  of  Egyptian,  Babylonian-Assyrian, 
and  possibly  the  independently-originated  Arabic. 

4.  If  a  Semitic  substratum  lie  postulated,  it  may  be  supposed 
that  in  primitive  times,  the  Arabs  and  the  Hebrews  possessed  a 
literature  marked  by  common  traits;  the  snj'  may  underlie 
Hebrew  parallelism,  though  no  evidenei-  points  to  the  fact  that 
the  unrhymcd  and  unmotrical  suj'  existed  .so  early  as  the  ancient 
III  bnw :  this  implies  a  jump  over  nearly  two  thousand  years. 
The  Arabic  saj'  with  its  parallelism  may  bo  an  entirely  inde- 
pendent growth. 

f  110  1 


64  I'arallclism  in  Amos 


Later  Develupmkxt  of  Parallelism 

The  lifetime  of  parallelism  covers  many  centuries.  It  has 
been  seen  that  the  beginnings  of  parallelism  lie  far  back  in  the 
origins  of  poetry  among  the  Egyptians  and  the  Siimerians.  It 
entered  into  Hebrew  literature  through  tlie  medium  either  of 
the  Egyptian  or  of  the  Babylonian- Assyrian,  and  may  have  been 
reinforced  by  the  use  of  the  saf  by  primitive  Arabic  tribes. 
It  appears  in  the  earliest  poems  of  the  Israelites;  it  continues 
to  develop  until  it  reaches  its  apogee  in  the  days  of  the  ]Major 
Projiht'ts.  the  Psalmists,  and  the  Moralists.  Thereafter  it  con- 
tinues to  flourish  in  Hebrew  literature,  though  little  by  little 
its  ancient  spirit  weakens.  It  enters  into  the  Greek  literature 
of  the  Jews  and  for  a  while  retains  its  native  vigor  there;  but 
the  rise  of  Christian  civilization  and  the  supremacy  of  Greek 
poetic  forms  spell  its  gradual  retirement.  Within  indigenous 
Jewish  literature  the  decline  of  the  Jewish  poetic  genius  duriug 
the  talmudie  period  is  responsible  for  a  concomitant  breakdown 
of  parallelism ;  nor  does  the  revival  of  Hebrew  poetrj'  after  the 
tenth  century  avail  much  for  its  renewed  gro^vth  as  against  the 
alien  infliience  of  an  intricate  Arabic  system  of  poetics.  Only 
within  the  last  century  has  a  conscious  effort  been  made  to 
resurrect  parallelism;  and  this  attempt  also  has  been  abortive. 

In-  the  APdCRvniA  axd  the  Apocalypses 
To  traei'  the  liistoiy  of  parallelism  after  the  close  of  the 
biblical  ('anou.  it  is  necessary  to  turn  tn  those  works  wiiich  lie 
outside  the  Old  Testament  proper.  Jebb  pointed  out  the  pres- 
ence of  parallelism  in  almost  all  of  the  apocryphal  books.''" 
Ecclesiasticus,  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  Books  of  Wisdom, 
Book  of  Tobit,  the  first  Book  of  the  Maccabees,  the  Book  of 
Judith  are  for  a  large  part  clearly  in  the  parallelistic  style  of 
the  classic  Hebrew  writings,  though  narrative  prose  at  times 
forms  a  background  for  the  parallelistic  in.sets,  while  the  couplet 
formation  is  less  certain,  and  synonymity  and  close  correspon- 
dence are  less  distinct.      The  Pseud-epigrapha,  several  of  the 


Jebb,   Sacnd   LiUroture    (London,   1820),   pp.    7.5,   SiS. 
[120] 


ranilhlisin  in  Amos  65 

aptH-alypsis  siu-li  iis  tlif  Twilv.'  ralriiirclis.  tin-  l!(»>k  (if  .IiiliiK-cs, 
till-  Apoi-alypso  of  Hanieli  ami  1\'  Ksdras,  also  L'ontaiii  i>assaj;i's 
of  parallclisin.  Ciray  selt-cts  from  tlu'  Apocalypse  of  Harm-li, 
i-liaptiT  4S.1-47  as  '"aiiuuij;  tin-  most  ri-fitilar  and  siistaim-d 
i-xamplis  of  parallelism  in  the  whole  raii'^e  of  Ilelirew  liter- 
ature."'"" It  seems  plausihie.  then,  that  i)arallelism  was  used 
in  formal  lit(>rature  anionjr  the  Jews  as  a  rejrular  Diolif  at  least 
until  U)0  A.n.,  the  approxiiiuite  date  of  the  Apoealyjise  of  Esdras. 

In  «;rkbk  Oni(iiXAi.s  iiv  .Ikws 
A  word  nuist  he  said  on  the  use  of  jjarallelism  in  Greek 
literature  eontemporary  with  tlu'  later  Hebrew.  Tobit 's  Prayer, 
the  I'rayer  of  JIanasses.  the  Sonjr  of  the  Three  Holy  Children, 
the  latter  part  of  Barueh  were,  aeeording  to  the  viewpoint  of 
several  investipitors,  written  ori«rinally  in  Greek;  yet  the  par- 
allelism remains  fairly  pure.  It  has  already  been  noted  that 
the  eharaeter  and  form  of  the  orijriual  Hebrew  poetry  were  re- 
taiiu'd,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  errors  and  misinterpretations, 
in  the  Septuasrint.'"" 

In-  the  New  Testament 
Parallelism  is  evident  also  in  the  New  Testament.      Amon-r 
lho.se  fii-st  to  recorrnize  it  therein  weri'  Home,  Wakefield.  Farrer, 
Ainuion,  A.  Clarke  and  otliei-s.'""      Hut   Hishop  .lebb  was  per- 


•  "'*  Forms  of  Hebrew  Portri/,  p.  27. 

'■o  Professor  Max  Margolis  has  pointed  out  that  no  translator  of  the 
Hebrew  Soriptures  couM  fail  to  notice  the  parallelistic  structure  of  Hebrew 
poetry.  The  uncials  show  oftentimes  liv  sticliic  writing  the  nature  of  the 
perioilic  ami  couplet  character  of  the  |)arallelisni.  The  omission  of  lines, 
in  I'roverbs  anil  Job,  for  example,  must  be  ntuilleil  carefully  an<l  each 
case  juilgeil  on  its  own  merits.  The  translator  might  operate  freely  with 
his  text,  anil  to  the  extent  that  he  sacrificed  the  parallelism  it  may  be 
said  that  it  did  not  matter  to  him,  so  long,  as  in  the  case  of  Job,  he  showed 
himself  an  ndcpf  in  (Jreek  poetry  (/(ocfiirum  Uctor).  But  that  the  Alex- 
anilr:        '  r' illy  cognizant  of  paralleli>ini  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 

in  a  I'ly  not   bn.snl  on  a   Hebrew  original,  or   in  the  npoc- 

rypl:  I  ly  mentioned,   parallelism    is  present.       The  extent   to 

whirl  I-  observeil  in  the  other  versiiuis  is  doubtful.      Neither 

Joseptiii-.  i>ri:;.ii.  nor  Jerome  understooil  the  fumlamentnl  principles  of 
Hebrew  poetry,  but  they  laboreil  under  misconceptions  drawn  from  their 
knowledge  of  Oreek.  An  interesting  chapter  on  the  recognition  of  par- 
alleli.Hni  by  trnn.slators  of  the  Bible  throughout  the  centuries  could  be 
written,  but  lack  of  space  forbids  the  inclusion  in  this  study. 

"oJcbb,  Sacred  Literature,  pp.  94-9.">. 

[1211 


66  I'arallrlisiii  in  Amos 

liaps  the  first  to  ili-v(ite  himsrlf  to  a  thorough  study  of  New 
Testaiuent  parallelism ;  he  was  followed  by  Thomas  Boys,  who 
iu  his  Tacita  Sacra  and  Key  to  the  Book  of  Psalms  attempted 
to  show  a  correspondeuce,  uot  merely  of  lines,  but  of  wliole 
paragraphs.  John  Forbes  carried  these  investigations  still  fur- 
ther in  his  Symmetrical  Structure  of  the  Scripture  and  Aim- 
lytical  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Bomans.^^'^  Richard 
G.  Moulton  accepts  many  of  the  results  of  Forbes  and  selects 
illustrations  for  the  various  types  of  parallelism,'  rather  than 
devote  himself  to  a  close  investigation  of  the  material.^**-  Recent 
translations  of  the  New  Testament  have  sought  to  make  use  of 
the  conclusions  of  these  scholars  of  the  last  century,  though  care 
must  be  exercised  in  a  selection  of  their  evideuce.^*^ 

Among  the  poems  which  are  of  Hebrew  origin,  parallelism 
is  clear.  The  Magnificat  and  other  New  Testament  canticles 
show  excellent  couplet  structure,"*  and  the  material  embodied 
in  quotations  from  the  original  Hebrew  still  retains  the  parallel- 
istie  form  :  these  quotations  ma.y  be  :  (1)  simple  and  direct  quota- 
tions of  single  pa.ssages ;^**^  (2)  quotations  of  a  more  complex 
kind  when  fragments  are  combined  from  different  parts  of  the 
poetical  Scriptures  and  wrought  up  into  one  connected  whole  ;^*'"' 
(3)  quotations  mingled  with  original  matter;  here  one  or  more 
passages  derived  from  the  Hebrew  are  so  connected  and  blended 
with  original  writings  that  the  compound  forms  one  homogeneous 
whole,  the  sententious  parallelism  equally  pervading  all  the 
component  members  whether  original  or  derived."' 

Parallelism  is  present  also  in  original  portions  of  the  New 
Testament  apparently  untouched  by  any  direi't  influence  of 
biblical  poetry.      Parallel  couplets  abound:'"   triplets  are  fre- 

isi  Edinburgh,  18.34,  1868. 

i^-Literani  Studu  of  the  Bible  (Boston,  189(i'i. 

1^3  See  Torrev,  "A  Possible  Metrical  Origin  of  tlie  Lord's  Praver," 
ZA,  XXVIII,  ?,12ff.  Moffat,  The  Historical  New  Testament  (Edinburgh, 
1901). 

I s*  Gray,  p.  26;  The  Magnificat,  Luke  1.46,  must  of  course  bo  compared 
with  Hannah's  Ode  in  I  Sam.  2.1-10.  Burney,  Journal  of  Theological 
Studies,  XIV,  414-424,  regards  Matt.  25.31-46  as  a  Hebrew  poom. 

is^Matt.  2.6,  18,  4.15,  16;  Heb.  12.5,  6,  etc. 

iscMark  11.17;  Rom.  11.33-35;  II  Cor.  9.9,  10,  etc. 

is7Rom.  10-13-18;   Matt.  21.42-44;   Acts,  4.24-30,  etc. 

issLiike  1.46-47,  12.48;  Matt.  5.42,  7.2,  12.35,  15.11;  John  5.29:  .lames 
1.9-10,  4.8,  20.13,  etc. 

ri22i 


/'(/;•<///« /i.sm  In  Aitws  67 

<lii.iit,'^"  tlicni'.'li  opi'ii  ti.  tli<'  same  tiu.siii.ii  as  in  tin-  llclir.'W ; 
iliiatiaiiis  of  varyinjr  orders  also  are  mnncroiis.""'  Evi'ii  tlioufih 
ill  CJrtck,  tin-  paralli'lisiii  licrt'  loses  little  of  its  native  foiee. 

Tiu'  work  of  Forbes  on  the  larger  eonibinations  in  New  Testa- 
imnt  paiallelisni  must  lie  aeeipted  with  caution.  lie  arranjres 
the  Deealojjjne  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
and  other  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  in  symmetrieal  forma- 
tion, sayinfj  that  "the  exactness  of  arranfiement  in  lines,  para- 
;rrai)hs,  and  nundiers  is  so  (hlinite  that  no  line  or  seareely  word 
eould  lie  altered  without  destroyiiijr  the  beautiful  symmetry  of 
the  whole."  He  ur<?es  that  parallelism  is  eharaeteristie  of 
prose  as  well  as  poetry,  and  proelaims  that  it  is  no  special 
criterion  of  Hebrew  poetry.""  Moreover,  he  nejilects  the  couplet 
foundation  of  parallelism,  and  jiroeeeds  to  find  larger  strophie 
divisions,  even  in  the  New  Testament  epistles,  of  which  he  takes 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  as  an  example.  This  ne>rleel  of  the 
couplet  character  of  both  Old  and  New  Testament  parallelism 
throws  doubt  upon  the  entire  method  of  Forbes.  His  over-exact 
and  arbitrary  seliematization  of  the  Decaloi/ue  is  as  (piestionable 
as  are  JIueller's  discu.ssions  on  the  strojihe  in  freneral ;  by  this 
method,  from  almost  any  elevateil  prosi-  a  sort  of  ■■])arallelism'" 
could  be  obtained.  The  uncertainty  of  Forbes  himself  that 
every  part  of  St.  Paul's  epistle  was  arranj;ed  "desi<jnedly"  in 
parallelism  and  his  appreciation  of  the  "indistinctness  of  the 
parallelism"  are  borne  out  by  the  facts,  rarallelisni  in  Xew 
Testament  writinjrs  plays  an  important  r<"le.  but  its  ancient 
vo<rue  and  re<rnlarity  have  pa.s.si  tl.  Ar<:rumentative  and  narrative 
prose  prevail ;  at  times  the  .symmetry  is  stronj:  and  constant  over 
lonj;  periods,  but  the  tlominant  note  throufrhout  is  pri>saic.  The 
spirit  and  native  character  of  the  poetry  of  the  Psalms,  the 
Pro|)hets,  and  the  Moralists  have  been  replaced  by  a  eondiination 
of  a.s.sorted  devices  of  a  new  literary  i-ra. 

""Matt.  S.20,  12  ••'.     .1  .I.I.    ;•..-.     fl  Tlicss.  2.8;  Ju.lo  1.11,  cto. 

'"oMntt.  .1.11,  I'J  l.«;  Luke  12.22,  23;  I  Cor.  12.2iV.  etc. 

•oi  "  Annlytionl    '  Romans,"    p.    63fT.;     " Symmetrirnl 

Strii.-tur.,"  p.  nrr.  ...i.l.i^ion  on  tlio  fact  that  tho  figuro 

of    •••  111."    an    ilis.-ovcreil    by    Bishop 

Jet.t.  I   ns   priiiif  is  the  oinploymrnt 

of    -i  the   <'oiii|M>sitiiiiis.       But    this 

prill     ;  th..   |.:ir.ill..|i-.ni.      Ihul..   p.  Sli. 

I  1^3  1 


i\inUUlii:nt  in  Amos 


Syriao  Uteratuiv  affonls  aii  iustaiKV  of  the  ootuseioiis  inter- 
luixtutv  of  tho  Jewish  poetie  motif  of  ^larallelisiu  with  the  Latin 
aiid  Oret?k  rules  wUieh  demaiKltHi  regularity  of  eousiruetiou  and 
equality  iu  the  number  of  luetrieal  feet.  \Vhile  parallelism 
seems  to  haw  deeayeil  thn.>ii^h  sheer  internal  decline  within 
Hebrew  poetry  during  the  talmudie  period,  its  eontaet  with 
outside  literatures  beyond  the  evuitines  of  the  Jewish  group 
br\>ught  it  into  eontliet  and  synthesis  with  pre^-ailillg  non-Jewish 
deviees.  The  Gitvk  and  Latin  literatnr>»  eherished  by  the  new 
I'hristian  eimuuuuities  of  the  beginning  of  the  Common  Era, 
gradtially  minglei.1  with  the  statel\-  Hebrew  h\-mnoU^v  of  tra- 
ditioxi ;  the  lyrieal  poetry  of  the  heathen  converts  soon  ehalleuged 
the  supremacy  of  the  jmrallelism  which,  through  the  Psalms, 
had  imbedded  itself  iu  the  earl\-  Christian  liturgy.***  Little 
by  tittle,  the  Hebrew  style  surreiulered.  and  metrical  rnles.  after 
the  bent  of  original  ptvts.  gained  eimtrol.  New  Grwiau  melo- 
dies aiul  measures  were  intrvnUiced — the  heptasyllabic.  anacreon- 
tic, tetrasyllabic,  and  the  do»,lecasyUabic.  Through  Ephraem 
Syrus  and  other  minor  poets  and  hxmnologists.  Syriac  literature 
receivetl  a  permanent  Greek  stamp;  despite  this,  however,  par- 
allelism especially  of  alternate,  antithetic  species,  is  combinevl 
with  the  intricate  metrical  structure : 

The  worUl  calls  thee; 
Go  fiwUn  to  laKmr; 

The  gtaiv«»  calls  th^w. 

Cwuw  rvst  thou  w-tfarv  ouo. 
Glory  t*  to  Him  vfho  gtves  th<ev  repose.'-*^ 

Synon\mous  parallelism  is  also  apparent ; 
like  lilt**  tsikeu  t'twm  the  wiUferuess. 
ChiWreu  are  plaut«d  in  paradise; 
Auvi  Uke  pearls  iu  diavleuis. 

Clulilnjtt  are  iuserted  iu  the  Kiugvlom. 
.    Attd  without  ceasiug  shall  hyuui  forth  praise.i** 


J.SS  Burgess.  JftfWv-uf  HitrnM^  und  Hv>m)7tVs  ^.^Si53V•  P-  xxiiiff. 
»*s  Ibid.,  p.  9.  "The  death  of  youth." 
If*  Ibid,,  p.  -K  "The  death  of  ohildreu." 


Hi-  n  Kiiunl  to  niiiie  fy<>, 

TImt  it  look  not  stonltliily, 
Ho  a  mmr.l  to  tlii-  oar, 

Tliut   it   hear  not  wickfiUy.ii's 

In  Raiuiinicai.  Litkkatiue 
raraltilisin  in  ral>l>inioal  lilrratiin'  was  ))iili:i|>s  liisi  dlisiivrd 
li\-  .)fl)li,  in  1S2(),""'  will)  di'votod  niiu'li  alti'iitioii  to  tlu'  fonn 
(if  tlu'  apluirisnis  and  provorbs  (if  the  Raliliis ;  lie  failed,  however, 
to  mention  (lie  liturgy.  The  form  of  even  the  ntost  aneient 
prayers  (lilTer((l  from  that  of  tlie  Psalms  and  other  eompositions 
admitted  into  tiie  Tanon  and  supposed  to  have  tiieir  orifiin  in 
the  times  of  the  Sopherim,  by  "entirely  diseardinjjr  parallelism, 
that  dwollinf»  upon  one  favored  sentiment  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
as  if  loath  to  ]>art  with  it";  instead,  it  expressed  the  idea  "in 
the  most  elear  and  eoneise  form,  and  by  its  lan}rna<re  indieates 
the  transfornnition  of  the  Hiblieal  into  the  more  popular  and 
do^'matieal  Tahmidieal  Hebrew,  tinted  with  new  formed  words 
and  Aramaisms. "  Tiiis  statement  by  Sekles'""  is  in  part  true, 
but  several  of  the  most  aneient  element.s  of  the  Eifrhteen  Rene- 
dictions  whieh  were  writtin  around  100  a.i>..  and  the  blessinp^s 
aeeompunyin;:  the  reeitation  of  the  sin  imi' ,  show  traces  of  par- 
allelism; this  is  due  in  larpe  meiusure  to  the  fact  that  they 
preserved  many  of  the  sublime  phrases  of  the  Bible  and  a  sup- 
jrestion  of  its  spirit.  An  example  of  paralhlisni  in  the  liturgy 
nniy  be  found  in  the  ',1/'7m7  prayer: 

It  in  onr  duty  to  praise  the  Lonl  of  nil  tliin)r8, 

To  njo-ribo  projitnesa  to  him  who  fornnnl  the  worlil  iu  the  l>o(jinnin|i, 

Sinco  h(<  Imth  not  ninde  us  liko  the  nations  of  the  other  lamls, 
.\n<l  hath  not  placed  us  like  the  other  families  of  the  earth. 

Since  he  hath  not  assi(n>ed  unto  us  n  portion  as  unto  them, 
Nor  n  lot  as  unto  all  their  multitude 

Who  stretcheil   forth  the  heavens 
And  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth. 

The  .wat  of  whose  glory  is  in  the  heavens  above. 

And  the  alwde  of  whose  mi({ht  is  in  the  loftiest  hei);ht.s.  . .  . 

'»»  Ibid.,  p.  95,  "A  prayer  to  the  Trinity." 

'»«  Jebb,  pp.  7fi,  88-90. 

i"- Portry  of  Ihr  Tolmud  (New  York,  ISSOi,  p.  22. 


70  ParaUilisiii  in  Ainos 

On  the  whole  it  maj-  be  concluded  that  parallelism  is  a  frequent 
but  not  a  dominant  phenomenon  of  the  liturgy,  wherein  elevated 
prose  mingles  with  reminiscences  of  biblical  poetry.^^* 

The  rabbinical  proverb,  or  mdshdl,  expressing  sententiously 
a  moral  counsel,  appears  sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without 
parallelism.  The  Book  of  Ecclesiasticus  or  the  Proverbs  of 
Joshua  ben  Sirali.(e.  180  B.C.)  is  the  only  systematical  book  of 
proverbs  dating  from  the  times  of  the  Sopherim.  The  Mishna 
tractate  I'irqi'  'Abhoth.  or  "Ethics  of  the  Fathers,"  contains 
examples  wherein  varied  forms  are  observed ;  this  saying  attrib- 
uted to  Rabbi  Hillel  is  marked  hj  a  string  of  subjects  with 
corresponding  predicates,  in  almost  arithmetical  progression ; 
the  couplet  structure  has  disappeared : 

The  more  flesh,  the  more  worms, 

The  more  riches,  the  more  eare; 

The  more  wives,  the  more  witchcraft; 

Tlie  more  maid-servants,  the  more  lewdness; 

The  more  men-servants,   the   more   theft; 

The  more  Torah,  the  more  life; 

The  more  scholars,  the  more  wisdom ; 

The  more  counsel,   the  more  understanding; 

The  more  righteousness,  the  more  peace.  ('Abhi'iih,2,S) 

Sometimes,  a  figure  comparable  to  the  Arabic  'als  occurs,  e.g.. 
this  saying  of  Rabbi  Eleazar  V).  Azariah : 

Where  there  is  no  Torah,  there  arc  no  manners; 
Where  there  are  no  manners,   there   is  no   Torali. 


los  Examples  may  be  found  in  Sekles,  passim.  The  following  shows 
couplet  structure,  though  not  of  exact  synonymity;  the  parallelism  is  rather 
of  a  constructive  variety: 

' '  Oh,  Lord  our  God,  endow  us  with  knowledge  to  know  thy  ways. 

And  surround  our  heart  with  thy  fear; 

And  forgive  us  tliat  we  may  be  among  those  redeemed. 

And  remove  us  from  all  injury. 

Satisfy  us  with  the  blessings  of  thy  land. 

And  collect  our  exiles  from  the  four  corners  of  tlie  earth. 

Judge  the  erring  according  to  thy  holy  will. 

And  over  the  wicked  stretch  forth  thy  hand. 

Rejoice  the  just  by  rebuilding  thy  City, 

And  by  the  restoration  of  thy  Temple; 

By  the  sprouting  forth  of  the  horu  of  bliss  of  David  thy  servant. 

And  by  the  restitution  of  the  liglit  of  the  son  of  Jesse,  thy  annointed. 

(Brraklioth,  29.) 
Tliis  prayer  was  composed  by  a  poet  named  Samuel  in  the  third  century. 


[120] 


raralUlisiii  in  Ante 


Wliori-  then'  is  no  wisdom,   is   no   fear  of  Hod ; 
Where  there  is  no  fear  of   Cioil,   there   is   no   wisdom. 

Where  there   is  no    knowleiljje,    there    is    no    ninlerstandinf;; 
Where  there  is  no   understanding,   there    is   no   kuowledne. 

Where  there  is  no  meal,  tliere   is   no   Torab ; 

Where  there  is  no  Torah,  there  is  uo  meal.  ( 'Ahliiith,  3,  21  ) 

An  t'.xaiiipK'  of  tlic  iiitfrplay  bftwccn  pmtiy  and  prose,  touelnd 

liy  paralU'lisni,  is  fonml  in  the  following': 
Warm  thyself  by  the  fires  of  the  wise, 
But   beware  of  their  glowing  eoals,   lest   thou   be   burnt; 

For  their  bito  is  the  bite  of  the  fox, 
And  their  sting  is  the  scorpion's  sting; 

And  their  hiss  is  the  serpent's  hiss; 

And  all  their  words  are  like  eoals  of  fire.  (  'Abhotli,  2,  10) 

Several  examples  of  aiititlietic  proverbial  couplets  oeeur: 
If  ^hou  art  toUl,  thy  friend  has  died,  believe  it; 
Thy  friend  has  beeome  riih,  believe  it  not.  (Gittin,  30b) 

In  whom  this  is,  there  is  nil ; 

In  whom  this  is  not,  what  is  there? 

Has  one  gotten  this,  what  lacks  he? 

Has  he  not  gotten  this,  what  has  he  gotten?  (.V'-<J/i«rIm,  41a) 

Where  the  book  is,  no  sw  ord  is  wanted ; 

Where  the  sword   is,  the  book  is  superfluous.      {' .1  hhiidlui  Zdru,lS) 

One  of  tiic  favorite  devices  of  the  rabbinical  aphorists  was  a 
quatrain  in  antithetic  alternate  parallelism: 

When  the  number  of  sins  on  earth   is  increased. 

The  holy   name  also   is   not   glorified  on   earth: 
But  when  the  number  of  sins  on  earth  is  not  increased, 

Then  the  holy  name  of  God  is  glorified  on  earth. 

(Z.Wmr.Dcut.,  127,503) 
Whos(H>ver  maketh  himself  little  on  account  of  the  law  in  this  world. 

He  bi<cometh  great  in  the  worlil  to  come: 
And  whosoever  maketh  him.«elf  a  slave  on  account  of  the  stuily  of  the 
law  in  this  world, 

lie  shall  l>e  freo  in  the  world  to  come.  (tiiiblui  M-'i.-i' d,  84,  2) 

Numerous  examples  of  this   nwlif  are  discoverable   in   all    the 
tractates  of  the  Minhni'i  and  G'mdrii.""'     Oiw  feels,  however,  that 


i»<> '  Erubhin.    17b;     Shabbiith,    114;     .Si/.fcr.i,     fol.     104,    4;     Midhnuh 
T'hilKm,  to   I's.,  chap.  9;    r.i-'nir/i,  fol.   7,   1.      See  Rosenthal,   Cbcr  dm 

[127] 


72  ]'(,nill(lisi,i  In  Amos 

tlie  pmigeiK'v  of  the  biblical  proverbs  has  in  large  measure  beeu 
lost. 

The  talmudic  period  pio]iir  is  succeeded  bj'  the  geonie,  the 
literature  of  which  still  shows  traces  of  parallelism  in  the  gnomic 
or  proverbial  writings;  e.g.,  the  "Alphabet  of  Ben  Sira,"  in 
the  Hebrew  proverbs,  but  not  in  the  Aramaic  ■,-°°  and  the  'Ahhoth 
d'^Rahbt  Ndthfin,  in  which,  however,  the  diverse  forms  which 
have  arisen  for  the  aphoristic  writings  almost  entirely  obscure 
it.-"^  In  the  didactic  works  of  the  medieval  poets,  also,  several 
of  the  proverbs  are  couched  in  the  traditional  antithetic  form, 
though  by  this  time  parallelism  no  longer  appears  as  a  constant 
motif.  It  is  not  surprising  that  it  was  preserved  longest  in 
the  proverbial  literature  of  Jewish  writers,  for,  as  has  been  noted, 
antithetic  couplets  or  quatrains  lend  themselves  most  readily  to 
the  expression  of  aphorisms  and  acute  sayings. 

The  scant  poetry  proper  of  the  Talmud  also  offers  some 
examples  of  parallelism.  It  appears,  for  example,  to  a  slight 
degree  in  the  elegy  on  the  death  of  Hanin,  in  Mo' cdh  Qdffni, 
25b,  though  marked  by  some  ambiguity  of  reference.-"-  A  poem 
fi-om  the  pen  of  a  Palestinian  sage  of  the  fourth  century,  R. 
Isaac  bar  Napaha,  is  "composed  not  only  in  pure  Hebrew,  but 
is  also  written  according  to  the  parallelism  used  in  biblical 
poetry,  and  observes  an  equality  of  syllables  in  its  lines. '  '-"^ 


Zusammcnhang  der  Mischna  (Strassburg,  1909),  p.  117.  Here  rhyme  of 
varied  orders,  parallelism,  and  other  formations  in  the  Mishna  are  dis- 
cussed. As  examples  of  a  kind  of  prose  parallelism,  Babhd  Bathrd  8,  1, 
B<:Icli6rdth,  8,  1 ;  '  Ugsj'Tn,  3,  1 ;  K<'rlt}wtli,  1,  3,  and  other  instances  are 
cited. 

200  Delitzsch,  Geschichte  d.  jued.  Poesie    (Leipzig,   1836),  pp.   204-20-5. 

201  Baumgartner,    Poesie    gnomique    jxiixe    depuis    le    cloture    du    canon 
liehreu,  jusqu'au  XVIe  siecle  (Geneva,  1886),  p.  17. 

202  Forms  of  Hebrew  Poctri),  p.  30,  cites  an  example  also  from  H"(]h'iciha 
15b,  which,  hovrever,  is  not  parallelism  even  of  the  synthetic  type. 

203  Sekles,  pp.   99,   146.      (It   may   be   objected   that   this   poem   shows 
rather   a   heaping   up   of   dcstri]itivc    plirasfs    than   a   genuine    parallelism 

of  clauses.)       Examples  nf   i -    v.  Inli    -I  ,,\v   a  trace  of  parallelism   are 

scattered  through  Seklrs.      Ii   i^   ,    •.  ■      •..  note  that  in  connection  with 

the  statement  of  the  Mislmi,  1/  .  ,'  ,  :;,  8,  that  female  professional 
wallers  were  employed  at  luiiiiul^,  tin  Taliiiml  states  that  these  exclaimed 
as  a  general  formula: 

"Woe  to  him  who  went  away, 

"Woe  to  those  who  are  left  behind." 
The  parallelism  of  a  brief  and  abrupt  kind  is  evident  here. 


I'ardlUlism   in  Amos  73 

Rojoicc,   rcjoioo,   O   tlimi   Ark! 

Arise  in  all  of  tliy  sploinlor; 

Eii(;irt  with  bniul!*  of  t;ol>l, 

Ailonii'il  with  i-hoicost  (joniH, 

Exhaltoil  iu  tho  saiictimry  of  tho  Toiiiplc.      (' .l(.;io(//i<i  Xara,  24b) 

It  is  ulcar  tlifii  that  paralli'lisiii  inaintaiiicd  itsi'll"  in  a  jiiiiior 
hut  HOMO  tlu'  less  palpable  ili'fjrreo  in  Ilobrew  liti'raturc  alter  the 
close  of  the  hiblieal  t'anon  ;•"*  but  the  eonstaiiey  aiul  beauty  of 
biblieal  parallelism  disappeared  with  the  deeliiie  of  poetieal  pro- 
duetivity  duriii'r  the  talimidie  period.  The  number  of  examples 
of  elear  i>oetry  in  the  Talmud  is  insuftieient  to  lay  down  rules 
of  metre  or  i)rosody,  nor  ean  it  be  iletermined  nnder  what  for- 
eisrn  influenee.  if  any,  the  talmudie  poets  eomposed  their  works. 
It  is  possilile  merely  to  note  the  oeeasional  presenee  of  bil)lieal 
forms  intirmi.xi  il  with  luw  eh  inents. 

I.s-  Mediev.m,  Jewish  Liter.vtike 
llel)riw  poftry  enters  a  new  stage  about  the  tenth  eentury; 
the  end  of  the  (ieonie  period  marks  the  befrinniiifjr  of  the  Arabie 
period.  Even  at  the  time  of  Ilai  (iaoii,  the  influenee  of  Arabie 
poetic  Hio/i/.s-  of  rhyme  and  metre  become  ajiparent.  In  the 
Miisar  lla.iki'l  attributed  to  him  occurs  perhaps  "liie  first  at- 
tempt at  rhyme,  containing  1S9  distiehs  of  which  many  are 
merely  Biblieal  pas.sages  rhymed."""'  The  introduction  of 
rhyme  is  a.scribid  also  to  .lannai,  and  it  was  employiil  by  Kalir, 
both  of  whom  lived  in  or  before  the  ninth  century  A.n.-""  Tliere- 
aftiT  despite  vigorous  opposition  by  Menahem  ben  Saruk,  his 
disciples  and  a  whole  .school  during  the  Middle   Ages,   Arabic 


30*  Ciray  spt'ak.s  of  tho  Ral)l)is  "examining  scripture  with  oycs  Wind  to 
paralli'li.iin "  (p.  '2'),  ami  hrin^H  .loveral  instances  to  show  that  coninien- 
tntors  throin»h  the  seooml  eentury  a.D.  faileil  to  unilerstan<l  the  principle 
of  parallelism.  ThouRh  this  conclusion  may  have  applie<l  to  the  majority 
of  Kahhis,  it  by  no  means  characterized  all.  In  the  Mishna  on  'Milmdha 
XHrii,  II,  .■),  Rabbi  Joshua  in  a  discussion  on  tho  Song  of  .Songs,  1.2,  uses 
tho  expresaion  x"bhiri't  with  reference  to  tho  second  stichoa  of  a  couplet 
which  explains  a  doubtful  reading  in  the  first.  If  the  word  is  translntoil 
merely  as  "the  accompanying  verso"  then  no  reference  to  a  parallelism 
can  bo  implied:  if,  however,  as  Emslie  (Thf  Mijiliiuih  on  IdnUtlry.  London", 
1911,  p.  37),  translates,  x"*''"''''  nu-ans  the  "parallel  verso,"  then  it  may 
well  bo  that  Rabbi  Joshua  appreciated  the  value  of  the  parnllolistic  prin- 
ciple in  tho  interpretation  of  doubtful  pa.«sages. 

SOI  Ftaumgartnor,  p.  20. 

3»«r.roeti,  Ocschichtc,  V,  15S-1.J9. 

[129] 


74  I'anillrlisui  ih  Amos 

poetic  usages  came  more  and  more  into  favor.  For  the  adoption 
of  the  whole  range  of  these  stylistic  devices,  Dunash  ben  Labrat 
is  most  responsible,  thougli  his  successors,  Hasdai,  Solomon  ibu 
Gabirol,  Jehuda  lui-Levi,  Ibn  Ezra,  the  Kimhis  and  a  score  of 
others,  brought  them  to  a  high  stage  of  development.-"' 

Parallelism,  as  has  already  been  seen,  liad  begun  to  disappear 
in  the  days  of  the  Geonim.  and  only  in  the  gnomic  literature 
had  survived  to  any  appreciable  degree.  With  the  advent  of 
Arabicised  Hebrew  poetry,  parallelism  is  neglected  even  more. 
The  infiuenee  of  the  biblical  forms  is  broki'u  diiwii :  thnuuh  Bible 
quotations  are  frequently  made,  these  are  worked  into  the  rhyme 
and  metre  wliich  dominate  tlie  particular  poem;  sometimes  the 
parallelism  of  the  original  is  maintained,  but  only  when  it  fits 
the  poetical  purpose  of  the  author.-"'  It  will  be  later  observed 
that  modern  Hebrew  poets  are  guiltj-  of  the  same  practiee. 

It  is  not  difficult,  it  is  true,  to  uncover  examples  of  jnirallel- 
istic  couplets  among  the  medieval  poets;  but  these  are  scattered 
and  exceptional;  the  poets  do  not  hold  the  motif  for  any  length 
of  ti'Xt.  The  following  may  be  eited  ;is  illusti-jitions  of  oeeasioiial 
parallelism,  thougli  varied  metre  and  rhyme  are  also  jjresent  : 

1.  Sanniel  ha-Nagid  in  "On  the  Battle  Field ":■-»'' 

If  I  pass  in  the  midst  of  water  draw  me  out  of  my  jioril ; 

If  I  walk  in  the  heart  of  fire  rescue  me  from  my  daugtM-. 

2.  Iliyya  Da'udi  in  QiihJilshd r'" 

The  heights  of  the  heaveus  to  you  arc  the  tlirone  of  glory. 

And  the  bounds  of  the  earth  thy  footstoiil  of  power  and  glory. 

These  announce  to  you  all  glory. 

And  these  proclaim :   "To  whom   the  glory .' ' ' 

The  Lord  God  of  Hosts.     He  is  the  King  of  Glory. 


20- Brody,  Studicn  zu  den  Diclitungen  JeUuda-Eal-Lcvi's  (Berlin,  189.5), 
p.  Off.  The  extent  to  which  Hebrew  imitated  Arabic  poetry  may  be 
un.lerstond  fiom  the  fact  that  tlie  jioetic  terminology  of  the  medieval'jew- 

]- \ .  ^t  rjit-ii'^    was   almost    ri't'nl\     IT-lmn    r,|i!\:ilrnts   for   the   Arabic 

1  .  -..      ilaitiM.-inn.    //.      ,  .1  I  Vrlin,    1894),   p.    84; 

I,    .;    ;!,    ''  .    <^.si.„   ,1/, ,/.„,„,  ;-   ,        -;         ;.,    .  ,1.  r  Biwaii  des  EaHzi 

il;riliM,  |s;:,,;  ,,,1  Ili'hrcw  c. .  1 1 1  ]  i;  I  r  r  <  i  |m  Aialni-  lai'tre,  see  pp.  11— iH; 
Ilalper,  "Scansion  of  Mediaeval  Hebrew  Poetry,"  JQE,  ii.s.,  IV  (101.31, 
p.  153ff. 

208  Albrecht  and  Brodv,  The  Neo-Hehrcw  School  of  Poets  of  tlie  Siianislt 
Amhidii  Epoch   (London,' lOOfi),  pp.  17,  .'ilff. 

=00 /;„•,?„  p.  :; 4. 

[130  1 


75 


3.  Aliraliain  ibii  Ezra  in  (/•'iilhlr" 

If  niv  eiicmii'.s  spoko  ovil  to  iiic, 

Tlu'ii  I  sluiU  spi-iik,  strotcliiii(j  out  my  foot, 

Goil  of  Ahraliiim  lias  lip  iMt'ii  to  mo, 
Ami  the  Kenr  of  Jnoob  unto  me. 

4.  Soldiiioii  iliii  ticbirol  in  (/''iilld:^^' 
To  whonisovor  I  soil  tlu'C, 

Tlie  liusbnnil  will  take  up  tliy  contention; 
To  whom  is  tlio  writing  of  tlivorcemcnt, 
Boliolil,  I  will  contend  tliy  opponent. 

In  all  tlif.sf  illustrations,  liowt'vcr,  the  paralU-lism  is  acciilcntal, 
anil  is  siirrounilftl  by  non-parallolistie  verses.^'^ 

Important.  liowcviT,  among  thf  dfvicfs  borrowed  from  Arabic 
literature  by  Jewish  Xeo-llebraie  poets  is  the  saj'  or  rhymed 
prose.  In  this  fiehl  Judah  al-IIarizi  is  the  leader;  his  Taxk^iiionl 
is  written  in  imitation  of  the  style  of  Hariri's  "Assemblies.'"'* 
It  eonsists  of  various  iiKiqumt'it,  wherein  the  rhymed  prose  has 
beeome  hebraised.  and  the  Hible  lanpruafre  takes  the  iilace  of 
koranie  allusions.  Tlioujrh  Ilarizi  employs  the  device  skilfully, 
the  rhyme  is  more  important  with  him  than  jiaralhlism,  which 
is  :iot  so  fre(|uent  as  in  the  work  of  the  Arabic  poet.  Moreover 
the  true  ditTereiiee  between  biblical  and  the  Xco-IIcbraie  ]iar- 
allelism  heroin  boeomos  evident :  the  former  is  free,  natural, 
spontaneous;  the  latter  is  a  second-hand,  artificially  adapted 
imitation.  An  indication  of  the  type  of  parallelism  that  occurs 
at  intervals  in  the  Tii\l;''tiii'iiil  may  be  seen  from  this  selection  of 
lively   siif    iicciirrin>r   in    the   "MiKjihiKi    of   the   Tnluippy    Mar- 


riaire 


May  God  make  long  thy  days, 

Anil  keep  the  l>enuty  of  thy  eheok.s, 

And  thy  fruit  forever  flourish. 

Thou  art  fovect  and   l)oauteous  to  my   Raze, 
Ami  pleasant  unto  my  si^ht. 

Thou   (|uirkenest    all   hearts   liy    thy   Wauty, 

Thou  drawest  unto  thee  all  souls  hy  the  freshness  of  thy  cheeks.= 


//.irf..  p.   !.-..->. 

I  bid.,  p.  -.0. 

Ki.  niit'     V, '.'.I    .',i' ; .  A.-/j-     Pitririe   andnlumschfr  Dichtcr  «uj»   d.   It. 
l.')8SK  contains   trnn.slations  ami   com- 
veral  other  poets  of  the  time. 
Mini  dfi  Ilarisi,  pnjwini. 

[  131  I 


76  ParnUclisDi  in  Amos 

Tlie  Piyyutim-^'''  of  the  Aliddle  Ages  also  show  onlj-  slight 
traces  of  parallelism ;  metre  and  rhjTne  and  other  poetical  figures, 
refrains,  puns,  acrostics,  abound  and  obscure  even  the  genuine 
parallelism  of  the  numerous  biblical  quotations.^'^  It  may  be 
concluded  then  that  the  infrequent  parallelism  which  appears 
in  medieval  Hebrew  poetry  is  neither  indigenous  nor  significant. 
Though  the  synthesis  between  historic  Hebrew  phraseology  and 
the  many-sided  prosody  and  rhetoric  of  the  Arabs-^*  produced 
many  notable  poems,  it  brought  to  light  no  parallelism  which 
holds  an  important  rank  in  its  expansion  and  influence.-^" 

Ix  iloDERx  Hebrew  Literature 
An  important  era  in  the  history  of  Hebrew  parallelism  begins 
with  tile  modern  Ilaskdld,  or  "Enlightenment,"  movement  in 
Germany  and  Russia.^^"  Moses  Hayyim  Luzzatto  sought  to 
emancipate  Hebrew  poetry  from  the  tradition  of  the  Middle  Ages 
and  to  free  it  for  self-expression  under  biblical  influence.  His 
Mighdal  'Oz  and  La-Y<^sMrim  Tchilld  show  indications  of  a  re- 
turn to  biblical  style,  but  parallelism  is  not  constant  or  frequent. 
Mendes  and  Wessely  followed  in  Luzzatto 's  footsteps,  the  latter 's 
Sh'ire  Tiph'creth  betraying  some  parallelism.--^  The  Mishle 
'Asaph  of  Isaac  Satanow---  are  true  to  the  character  of  Hebrew 
gnomic  literature,  and  as  in  the  proverbs  of  all  peoples,  parallel- 
ism is  at  hand : 


2iii  Hyiims  aiWcil  to  tlio  Hi-lirew  liturgy  after  the  seventh  century  a.d. 
21-  See  Sulzbacli,   /''.    //  Ihimcse  u.  weltliche  Poesle  der  Juden   (Trieste, 
1893).      Sachs,  F,sl,i,h,l.    ,1,  r  Israeliten  (Berlin,  1860),  app.,  p.  Iff. 

218  On  Arabic  puctiy  l.y  Jews,  see  Noeldeke,  Die  Gedichte  d.  Juden  in 
Arabieti  (1864),  passim;  also  Bacher,  Die  hehraeische  u.  arabisclie  Poesie 
der  Juden  Jemens  (Budapest,  1910),  p.  73:  "Die  Form  der  Diehtungen. " 

219  Credit  for  priority  in  the  discovery  and  designation  of  parallelism 
belongs  to  the  medieval  Jewish  commentators  Levi  ben  Gershon,  Ibn  Ezra, 
and  David  Kimhi.  (Gray  has  brought  the  data  together  in  Forms,  pp. 
17-18).  Azariah  de  Eossi  devoted  a  chapter  of  his  if'or  'Enayim.  "Light 
of  the  Eyes"  (Mantua,  1-374),  to  the  study  of  Hebrew  poetry,  wherein  he 
recognizes  parallelism  and  the  true  character  of  its  poetical  rules.  This 
work  underlay  Lowth  's  famous  Praelectiones  and  to  it  he  assigns  due  place. 

=2»Sce  Slouschz,  Eenaissanee  of  Hebrew  Literature  (Philadelphia,  1909), 
■passim;  La  poesie  li/rique  hebralque  contemporaiiie  (Paris,  1911),  passim; 
Waldstein,  Modem  Hebrew  Literature  (New  York,  1916). 

221  The  selection  made  by  Casanowitz,  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  IX,  522,  is 
not  good,  for  synonymous  parallelism  is  absent. 

222  Berlin,  1789  and  1792.  _    . 

[  132  ] 


I'tiralUlisin  in  Amos  77 

On  the  <lny  of  tliy  birth  thou  iliilst  w..p, 

Ami   those  alioiit   thee  were  k''"I  I 
Oil  the  ilay  of  thy  death  thou  wilt   hiutjh, 

Anil  those  about  thee  will  si);h. 

Many  arc  the  beautiful  wives  that  are  hateil  by  their  husbands; 
Antl  many  are  the  ill-featuroil  wives  that  are  beloved. 

Tills  ri'tiirii  to  biblical  style  niifrlit  liiivi'  pri'sagcd  a  readoption 
of  pUrallflisin  as  a  dominant  poi'tic  prim-iple,  but  its  primitive 
I'haraetcr  as  a  poetic  instrument  and  the  ruimber  and  scope  of 
poetic  and  rhetorical  devices  at  the  author's  command--'  operated 
against  its  jiopularity.  Abraham  Baer  (iottlober's  poems  in  the 
periodical  II(ish-Slui\(ir.  "The  Dawn,"  savor  of  biblical  intluenec 
and  make  use  of  many  biblical  (piotations  which,  however,  as 
witli  tlie  medieval  poets,  are  couched  in  rhyme  and  metre;  still 
his  works  show  fre(|ueiit  parallelism,  to  which  he  devotes  much 
attention  in  an  article  on  ntodern  Hebrew  poetics.--'*  Judah 
Leon  Ciordon,  one  of  the  foremost  fifrures  of  the  Hebrew  re- 
luiissance,  also  permits  parallelism  to  crop  out  at  intervals: 

Thoy  but  sowed  the  wind  and  ploughed  the  rock. 
Drew  water  in  a  sieve  and  threshed  empty  straw; 

ThoT  taught  thee  to  run  counter  to  life, 

To  isolate  thyself  between  walls  of  precepts  and  prescriptions, 

To  bo  dead  on  earth  and  alive  in  heaven, 

To  walk  about  in  a  dream  and  speak  in  thy  sleep.=2'' 

The  prose  of  Perez  Smolenskin  in  Il(i.ih-Shn\(ir  is  so  permciited 
with  the  Bible  spirit  tliat  parallelism  abounds;  lie  seems  to  cm- 
ploy  it  entirely  unconsciously,  and  hence  it  lias  a  spontaneous 
and  undisciplined  character.  Hut  the  works  of  the  more  recent 
jioits,  ineludiii}?  Dolitzki,  P'rischman,  Shapiro,  Berditclu-vsky, 
Schneour  and  others  have  broken  away  more  and  more  from 
biblical  motifs;  the  trend  of  the  poetry  of  the  last  decades  of 
the  nineteenth  and  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  centuries 


55'  Abraham  and  Micah  U-bonsohn  introdiiceil  Hebrew  poetry  to  nearly 
all  the  rules  of  modern  prosody  and  cstnbli.ihed  the  standards  for  future 
poetics. 

"• //<ii  K'dVMJ.JMm   (Vilna,  ISiMi.pp.  ll-.-.O. 

=55  Rhine,  Lron  Gordon   (Philadelphia,  1910 1. 

[  !•"  1 


78  I'(tritlh'lisin  in  Amos 

lias  IxTii  aiiti-l)ililical ;  liriu'c  niodern  poetics  have  licld  sway 
ami  the  weak  pai-allclisiu  cil'  i)revioiis  years  has  been  further 
enfeebled.-^" 

Perhaps  the  only  author  to  ehanipion  in  writing  a  revival  of 
parallelism  as  the  characteristic  Hebrew  poetic  form  is  Zeeb 
Yawitz.  He  sought  to  disengage  Hebrew  verse  from  modern 
prosody  and  to  lead  it  back  to  the  form  of  the  Bible;  his 
N'^ghlnoth  minnl  Qedhem,  "Melodies  of  Antiquity,"--'  are  a 
paraphrase  of  talmiidic  tales  in  the  style  of  the  Prophets.  But 
Yawitz  understood  the  llcbi'i-w  language  far  better  than  he  did 
the  true  nature  of  ])(}etie  inspii'ation,  and  his  poems  do  not  take 
high  rank  in  recent  Hebrew  literature;  his  was  a  voice  crying 
in  the  wilderness,  and  his  productions  met  w'ith  no  imitators.^-* 

Bialik,  the  greatest  of  modern  Hebrew  singers,  has  at 
moments  attained  the  heights  of  biblical  inspiration ;  his  Shire 
haz-Za' am,  "Poems  of  Wrath,"  suggest  the  strength  of  Jere- 
miah;--^ and  his  style  is  "one  step  more  towards  the  return  to 
Biblical  classicism"  which  has  marked  the  protest  against  the 
anti-biblieal  tendencies  of  reeeiit  years;  but  even  liis  poems  do 
not  exhibit  sustained  jiarallelisni.  They  are  siin]ile.  though  not 
so  simple  as  biblical  compositions,  for  many  poetical  figures 
and  forms  of  current  usage  are  employed.  Nor  on  Palestinian 
soil  ha-s  parallelism  gained  a  foothold :  contributors  to  the  various 
Palestinian  magazines  have  resorted  to  it  only  occasionally:  it 
does  not  appear  in  the  folk  melodies,  which  show  nieti-e  and 
rliyme:  the  songs  of  the  eliildren  fail  to  use  it.-'"" 

It  may  be  said  that  iiarallelism  has  outlived  its  day.  It 
had  its  zenith  when  ]ioetic  forms  were  relatively  undeveloped; 
and  appears  unable  to  regain  its  sway  as  the  only  dominant 
motif  of  Hebrew  jtoetiy.  It  si^ems  to  demand  a  sublime  state 
of  lyric   emotio)i  ;   Slouscliz   believes   that    it   will   not    return   to 

--''<  Slousehz,  Eenaissancc,  p.   181. 

2=- Jerusalem,  1892;  sec  also  for  a  review  of  this  work,  Ham-MiUi-, 
XXXri   (1892),  289. 

22s,m„i,s,.i,z,  r<.,si,  iiirhiii, .  11)1.  i:;:i-i3-i. 

220  Tlir  .!iii,i  iim:imiii  i-  ii'i]iul.ii  witli  many  modern  Hebrew  poets,  but 
parallelisiii  Mm.s  m.t  nrr,^s:irily  :i. .  uiii]iauy  it  in  their  compositions;  see  for 
example  thu  IJlm'Ali   hy   IViiz    (Vvisi,    Liirique,  p.  15.5). 

2S0  laelsou,  Sipker  hush-ShJrlm    (Berlin,  1912),  passim.  . 


I'anillrlisin  in  Anuis  79 

Ilclm-w  |)(H'try  until  a  poet  of  iiiaji'slic  [idwci-s  lias  lifcii  pro- 
(liii'i'il  ;-^'  but  it  is  lint  iilausililf  to  liclicvi'  that  the  appi'araiUM; 
even  of  a  iiotalik'  Hebrew  poet  will  neeessurily  witness  its  resusei- 
tation.  Inspiration  equal  to  biblieal  jrraiuli'ur  aiul  complexity 
of  pootie  forms  are  compatible.  The  jrreatest  poet  uses  the 
simplest  ileviees,  but  parallelism  is  not  the  only  available  fonii. 
The  secret  of  the  beauty  of  the  Psalms  and  the  prophetic  utter- 
ances lies  not  in  their  parallelism  but  in  their  inspiration.  A 
revival  of  biblieal  majesty  in  modern  Hebrew  poetry  will  come 
not  from  a  i-estoration  of  parallelism,  but  throufrh  the  rise  of 
a  uni(|iic  spirit  touched  with  the  Hinni'  of  :iiHi.iit  pniphetic 
Ivricism  and  vision. 


-31  Sloiisch/,,  PiHsic  lyriquc,  p.  13, 


[  1X-, 


80 


PARALLELISM  IN  AMOS 
INTRODUCTION 

The  interplay  of  biblical  prose  and  poetry  is  one  of  the 
most  vexing  questions  to  Old  Testament  investigators.  Tlie  two 
literary  forms  interweave  in  almost  all  parts  of  biblical  compo- 
sition, particularly  in  the  prophetical  books.  It  has  been  difficult 
to  set  the  limits  to  poetry,  while  recent  students  in  biblical  prose 
have  complicated  the  problem  still  more  by  designating  the 
apparently  prosaic  narrative  portions  as  poetry.  Several  in- 
vestigators have  escaped  the  i.ssue  by  accepting  the  overlapping 
of  Hebrew  verse  and  prose  as  a  standard  biblical  practice.  Moul- 
ton  speaks  of  a  middle  region  wherein  poetry,  distinguished  by 
high  parallelism,  meets  and  interlocks  with  prose;  the  effect  is 
a  great  .stylistic  gain  in  a  combination  of  "the  delight  of  freedom 
which  is  the  spirit  of  prose  with  a  sense  of  rhythm,  which  is  the 
foundation  of  verse."  George  Adam  Smith  advocates  the  same 
principle,  and  quotes  Professor  Saintsbury  to  prove  the  beauty 
of  "the  double  appeal  of  poetry  and  rhetoric,  the  magical  order 
of  poetry,  and  the  magical  apparent  freedom  of  rhetoric. ' ' 

It  is  unsatisfactory,  however,  to  adopt  these  general  con- 
clusions without  a  knowledge  of  their  full  implications.  Is  there 
a  twilight  zone  wherein  poetry  and  pro.se  form  a  melange?  If 
so,  where  does  poetry  proper  end,  where  does  prose  proper  end, 
aiul  what  is  the  result  of  their  lilending?  These  questions  can 
be  answered  in  some  measure  only  by  a  reexaniinatidu  of  the 
exact  data  present  in  the  books  of  the  Bible.  For  this  purpose, 
the  book  of  Amos  has  been  chosen.  It  might  perhaps  tie  better 
to  look  into  the  didactic,  the  proverbial  poetry,  or  into  an 
epic,  the  Book  of  Job,  or  into  the  Psalms.  For  the  literary 
psychology  of  these  works  is  relatively  simple,  whereas  in  the 
prophets  countless  problems  of  vague  and  apparently  insoluble 
character  arise.  But  research  in  the  book  of  Amos  will  at  least 
have  the  merit  of  grappling  with  a  double  problem:  first,  the 
interrelation  between  prose  and  poetry  in  Hebrew  literature  as 


[136: 


l'(iriill(  lisin  ill  Amos  81 

a  wliolc.  aiul  s.-.-oiul.  tlifir  int.'rplay  uikI.t  tin-  iiiliiicii. f  llu" 

uiiiiliu'  forcis  of  proplit  i-y. 

The   int'tlKHl   of  study   into   tli.-    piuM-,   the    portry.   aii.l    llu- 

milumjt   of  both  in  Amos  will  pnu d   from  tlif  known  to  the 

imknowii.  Tin-  cases  of  iiuhibitabli'  prose  in  Amos  will  first  lie 
stated;  the  instanees  of  elear  poetry  next;  the  third  eatef^ory 
will  Ooinprisf  the  delicate  sliatjes  of  intermixture,  and  an  attempt 
will  be  madi-  to  extract  therefrom  <reneral  conclusions  on  the 
|)roeess  of  interjilay.  The  sehematie  symbols  employed  are 
adoptetl  larjjely  from  C!ray,  thoufrli  a  similar  system  with  some 
modifications  was  used  before  the  latter 's  work  was  seen. 

PROSE 
Sheer  prose  is  found  in  the  superscription.  1.1,  an  insertion 
in  all  probability  from  the  ptxst-Exiiic  period,  of  a  narrative  his- 
torical character,  similar  to  other  prose  superscriptions  in  the 
prophetic  books.  A  second  piece  of  sheer  jirose  is  6.9-10,  which 
breaks  with  the  eiieompassiii<i  poetry  in  theme,  in  style,  and  in 
language ;  the  verses  seem  to  be  a  later  inset,  and  none  of  the 
proposed  reconstructions  (Ilari)er,  ir)2)  succeed  in  securing  par- 
allelism or  poetic  rhythm  for  the  pas.sage,  also  narrative,  but  not 
hi.storieal  in  character.  It  will  be  seen  then  that  relatively  little 
definite  prose  exists  in  Amos:  the  numerous  introductory  and 
closing  prophetical  phra.ses  and  refrains  and  the  vei-ses  in  the 
narrative  portion  of  7.10-17  come  under  different  categories  and 
need  special  consideration. 

r.VRALLELISTIC  POETRY 

CoMPLrTE    P.VKAI.I.ei.ISM 

Clear  poetry  in  Amos  involvi-s  the  (piestion  of  the  degree 
and  the  character  of  the  correspondence  between  the  parallel 
couplets  and  triplets.  It  is  insuflRcient  merely  to  label  these  in 
tenns  of  the  broad,  undiscriininating  categories  of  synonymous 
and  antithetic  parallelism;  the  classifications  of  Gray  are  more 
helpful.  Complete  parallelism  occurs  when  every  single  terra 
in  one  sticluw  is  parallel  to  a  tenn  in  the  other,  or  when  at  least 
everj'  term  or  group  of  terms  in  one  sfichos  is  paralleled  by  a 

[137] 


correspouding  term  or  group  of  terms  in  the  other.     The  simplest 
form  of  complete  parallelism  is  represented  by: 


Examples  from  Amos  are  few;  these  are  really  parts  of  larger 
periods  (in  these  translations  hyphens  connect  words  which  cor- 
respond in  the  Hebrew  I'ither  to  a  single  word,  or  lo  words  and 
particles  which  plainly  fni'in  one  eompound  expression  and 
receive  (me  accent )  : 

Not-a-famine     for-bread 

Not-a-tliirst     for-water.  8.11b 

It  maj-  be  necessary  to  designate  these  two  subperiods  also  as  one 
line  or  stichos : 

jMot-a-prophet     ami 

Not-a-prophet 's-sou     am-I.  7.14a 

Examples  of  the  one  variation  from  this  two-term  scheme: 
a        h 

h'         a' 

also  fall  under  tlie  criticism  of  being  subperiods  of  larger  units: 

Aud-ilo-not-seek     Bethel, 

Aiid-Gilgal     do-iiot-entor.  5..5a 

Not  everything  about  this  period  is  clear,  for  it  is  part  of  a  ques- 
tionable triplet;  moreover  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  negative 
of  command,  'al.  should  receive  a  full  accent ;  as  the  example 
is  cited,  it  does  not. 

Aud-I-will-wall-up     its-brcaclies, 

And-its-ruins     will-I-raise-up.  9. lib 

This  period  seems  to  be  part  of  an  " envelope'"  construction: 
though  complete  in  itself,  it  is  encompassed  by  a  preceding  and 
following  monostich,  parallel  each  to  each.  It  may  be  concluded 
then  that  two  term  periods  are  infrequent,  except  as  parts  of 
larger  units. 

Three  term  eom|ilete  parallelism  is  represented  by: 
a         1)         e 
a'        b'       C 


I'ariillilisiii  in  Amos  83 

Till-  ftmr  fi)lli>\viii^'  illusli-alioiis  arc  cadi  part  of  lar<.'cr  scttiiifjs, 
the  first  three,  iiiimis  a  major  vcrl>,  the  lourth,  the  central  jxir- 
tioii  of  an  envelope  const  met  ion  : 

With  shoiitiiiij     iiitlio  ilny-of     liiittle, 

Witha  tonipost     iiitlie-ilay-of    tlicwhirlwiii.l.  1.11b 

C'leauiu'ssof     tcetli     iu-all-ypiir-cities, 

Aii<l-lai-k'Ot°     bread     in-all  yoiir  places.  4.6b 

For-the-saiietiiary-of    tliv  kin);     isit, 

An.ltlie  rosi.lenoe-of    royalty     isit.  7.13b 

As-liveth     thy  God,     Oli-Dan; 

An.l  as-livoth     the-way-of     Boershcba.  S.Mb 

An  (Xaniple  of  a  eoiuplcte  and  independent  couplet  of  three 
terms  is: 

Xot-shall-cscnpo     of-tlu'in     a  fugitive, 

.\M<lnot-shall-bf-<lclivi>rt'il     of-thoni     a-rcfujji'e.  O.M 

The  permutations  of  the  three-term  complete  parallelism  arc 
found  in  soim*  measure  in  Amos:  fhoiijrh  a|>parcMtly  there  arc  no 
e.xamphs  of  the  forms 

a        I.        c 


Amll-will-ciit-ofr     thojuilgo     froni-tho-miiist-ofhcr, 
Andallher-prini'os     I-will-slay     along-with  him.  2..T 

The  prejiosition  ' immn  corresponds  here  to  miq-qirbdh,  but  the 

use  of  the  prepositions  here  is  doulitful. 

The  form 

a         I. 

b'        c'        a' : 
Whooan.ioth-to-bur»t     violi>n<'0     npon-tho-  .stronj;, 
Ami  (lovn.stntion     iipon-thcfortretm     brings.  .l.Q 

The  ehansje  from  i/ilhlio'.  "comes."  to  fiiihhV,  "lirinv's,"  im|irovcs 
the  parallelism. 


Take-from-mc     thenoiseof     thy-songs, 
An<lth(>-molo<ly-of     thy-lyri-s     I-will  not  hear. 


1.19  1 


84  I'lirallrlisui  in  Atiws 

The  preposition  iiif-Tilui.  "from  me,"  is  eouoted  liere  with  tlie 
verb  and  does  not  receive  a  word  accent  of  its  own. 

Wlio-ilrink     from-bowls-of     wine, 

Aml-with-thc-first-of     oils     they-anoiut-themselves.  6.6a 

The  synonymity  of  thought  is  less  exact  here  than  true  parallel- 
ism demands,  but  the  correspondence  of  terms  is  perfect. 

Aml-laid-clesolatc-shaniip      tlie-liigh-plaees-of      Isaac, 
And-the-sanctuarios-of     Israel     sliall-be-laid-waste.  7.9a 

A  disturbing  element  enters  here  through  the  presence  of  a  fol- 
lowing single  stichos,  which  is  treated  on  page  125. 


And-lie-eherished     forever     liis-auger, 

And-his-wi-ath     he-kept     perpetually.  1.11c 

A  change  from  way-yitroph,  "  and-it-tore, "  to  way-yittor,  "and- 
he-eherished, "  is  sanctioned  by  the  parallelism.  It  will  be  seen 
also  in  a  discussion  of  the  Doom  Song  that  this  couplet  may  be 
a  ]iost-Amosian  insrrtion. 


c'       h'       a' 

And-wlio-tiirueth    to-morning    deep-gloom, 

And-day    into-night    he-darkeneth.  5.8b 

A  single  stichos  precedes  this  couplet  and  brings  forward  the 
question  of  a  triplet  which  will  be  discussed  below. 

He-tliat-builds      in-the-heavens     his-chambers, 

And-his-vaiilt     upon-tlie-earth     he-established-it.  9.6 

Douhh-  Stnicture 

The  double  term  structure  exists  when  in  the  second  line 
two  or  more  terms  occur  wliicli  taken  together  are  parallel  in 
sense  to  a  corresponding  number  of  terms  in  the  first  line,  though 
tlie  separate  terms  of  the  one  combination  are  not  parallel  to  tlie 
separate  terms  of  the  otlier  combination.  In  its  extreme  form 
parallelism  of  this  variety  consists  of  two  entire  lines  completely 
parallel  in  sense,  but  of  whieli  no  two  terms  taken  separately 
are  parallel  to  one  another  (Gray,  p.  G9).     The  numerical  sym- 


140] 


I'ltnillt  lixiii  ill  Amos 


Ik.1.  h-2.  h-2.  vU:.   1 

i'|H-i'Sfiits  fitlicr  a  il 

mliU"  uii'ii 

luT. 

consist  inj; 

Mf  two  syiicinyms, 

)!•  a  i'oiii|ioiiml  tiTiii 

•onsistin^' 

of  t\ 

■o  parts. 

III    AlllHS    tll.MV 

is  no  cxaniplf  of  the 
ii2        I. 
i\-2        b- 

■oiiii : 

Til.'  form 

!l          1.2 
a'        h-2 

is  illustrated  by  tli 

is  coniiK't  taken  iiidc 

HMukMitly 

lUt    . 

f  its  liai-k- 

t'rouMil : 

Ki.r  Uilniil 

shall  siiri'ly     s"i"t<'<'''' 

<■, 

Aiul  Bothcl 

sliall-be.-oim-     iiauslit. 
a         b2 

5.5c 

h-2      a' 
I-lniilwuiito     yoiir-gardons     aml-your-viupynnls, 
Amlyourfij;-trcoa     ami-your-olivc-trccs     thc-locust-devoiiroil.  -J.Db 

The  cini-ndation  of  harboth,  "tlic  nudtitiidt'  of,"  to  In x' rabht'i, 
•■  I-laid-wastf,"  on  tlu-  basis  of  Wollliaiiscn  (Harper,  p.  99) 
makes  exeellent  parallelism  and  satisHes  every  demand  of  the 
eontext.  The  double  terms  here  si<.rnify  two  synonyms  rather 
than  a  compound  member;  moreover  it  must  be  noted  that  the 
verb  of  one  aeeent :  hr^'mbliti,  is  paralleled  by  a  com])ound  terni 
of  two  parts  whieh,  however,  receives  here  only  one  aeeent: 
ijt'ikhal  hati-ijihriiii,  " tlie-loeust-devound."*  The  scheme  may 
tlius  be: 


Tiic  lines  are  ecjual  in  the  number  of  their  syllables,  each  having 
twelve,  not  counting  the  sh' litis;  the  fii-st  sclieme  therefore  seems 
more  plausible,  though  the  test  of  counting  the  syllables  is  a  dan- 
gerous one.  F(u-  another  possible  example  of  this  form  see  below 
on  2.7a. 

Variations  of  this  double  structure  are  numerous  and  will 
be  introduced  uniler  the  iiuijor  subdivisions  of  complete  and 
incomplete  parallelism  that   follow. 

INCOUI'I.ETK  I'aR.VLI.K1.I8M 

Incomplete  parallelism  e.xi.sts  "wiu-n  only  some  of  the  terms 
in  each  of  two  corresponding  stichoi  arc  parallel  to  one  another, 


[HI] 


86  I'aritUeUsiii  in  Amos 

whik'  till'  ri'maiuing  terms  express  something  which  is  stated  once 
only  in  the  two  lines."  Sometimes  one  line  contains  a  given 
number  of  terms  and  another  line  a  smaller  number  of  terms; 
this  maj'  be  styled  incomplete  parallelism  without  compensation ; 
but  if  the  two  lines  contain  the  same  number  of  terms,  though 
only  some  of  the  terms  in  the  two  lines  are  parallel,  the  lines  may 
be  said  to  constitute  incomplete  parallelism  with  compensation 
(Gray,  p.  74). 

WITHOUT   COMPENSATION 


b'  C' 

But-I-destroyed     his-fruit     from-above, 

And-Iiis-roots     froni-beueatli.  2.9c 

And-I-raised-up     some-of-your-sons     for-proptxets, 
And-some-of-your-youths     for-Nazirites.  2.11a 

Surely-I-know     how-manifold     are-your-transgressious, 

Aud- mighty -are    your-sins.  5.12a 

Aud-I-will-turn'    your-feasts     into-mourniug, 

And-all-your-songs    into-Iamentation.  8.10a 

And-I -will-bring     upon-alMoins     saelicloth, 

And-on-every-hcad     baldness.  8.10b 

Aud-they-shall-wander     from-sea     to-sea, 

And-from-the-north    even-to-the-rising-of-tho-sun.  8.12a 

This  last  example  gives  Harper  trouble,  for  he  add.s  to  the  second 
stichos  the  verb  ryshot'^tu,  which  according  to  the  Massoretic 
division  goes  with  the  next  period.  The  e(iual  length  of  the  two 
stichoi  as  they  stand  and  the  prevalence  throughout  prophetic 
literature  of  the  figure  in  S.12b  argue  against  Harper's  arrange- 
ment. 


"Who-lic      upon-beds-of      ivory, 

Aiid-strctcli-thomsolvos     upon-t  heir-couches.  f>.4a 

The  terms  '•  ivory"  may  tie  ])aralleled  by  the  suffix  fnn,  "their," 
but  this  is  doubtful. 


it-dovourod     thc-great      deep 
wiiiild-liave-eaten     tho-land. 


[142] 


I'iintltrlisni  in  Amos  ! 

The  word  rabbd,  "fjivat,"  in  the  Hebrew  is  the  third  term 
the  tirst  stiehos;  it  is  diftieult.  us  with  tiie  word  rabhiiii.  "many, 
helow.  to  shiiw  this  in  the  translation. 


HwiULso  tlioy-linvorojirtetl      tlii-lawof      Ynliwi', 

Aiitl'his-statutrs    Imvc-thoy  not  kept.  2.4b 

lablior     tho-prulc-of    Jacob, 

Aiul-his-palaocs    do-I-liatc.  G.8a 

Ami  tliorosliall-drop     thcniountaiiis     swcet-wiiic, 

Aii.lallthe  hills     shall-mclt.  9.1 3b 

Tl>e  lenj^rth  of  these  two  stiehoi  in  tlie  Hebrew  is  almost  equal 
bteause  tiie  rediiplieated  root  tithmOghaghnu.  "shall  melt,"  has 
two  beats. 


And'hc-sliall-bring-down      from-thco      tliy-.strfnKth, 
And-pluiulered-shall-bc    thy-palacc.s.  3.11b 

Shallnot-darkopSMbc     the-day-of-Yaliwe,    and-not-light, 

Yea,     doop-darkiu',13,     ainl-nobrifjlitness-init  f  5.20 

Another  arrangement  eould  be  in  the  form  of  an  alternate  par- 
nllelism  as  follows : 


Po-tlii>rcriiii     iipon-tlie-rock     liorses, 

I)ncs-oup-plou|;li     (there)     with-oxou.  n.l2a 

Doubt  attaehes  to  tliis  verse.  Harper  (p.  153tT.)  reads  the  .second 
stiehos  "Does-one-plough  the-sea  witli-oxen";  he  break.s  up 
the  unusual  plural  habb'qdrim  into  bab-bdqnr  i/ain.  Though 
the  reading  and  seheme  piven  are  substantiated  by  the  Jewish 
Translation,  this  emendation  seems  plausible;  the  .scheme  then 


l-hatt>,     I  despi.io    yourfensfs, 
Andl-trill-not-smell     in-your-feiitivals. 


[U3] 


88  ParaJhlinin  in  A)iios 

This  couplet  has  two  verses  metrically  equal,  thougli  the  first 
stichos,  perhaps  for  emphasis,  has  two  verbs.  The  schematiza- 
tiou  luav  be : 


t'onipai-i'  4.9a.  and  below,  ou  redup' 
a  2      b 


Aud-there     prophesy.  7.12b 

Tliough  this  couplet  is  part  of  a  larger  whole  and  may  constitute 
only  one  stichos  with  two  parallel  hemistichs,  it  may  be  treated 
independently.  In  this  arrangement"  though  the  word  sham, 
' '  there, ' '  interposes,  ' '  eat-bread ' '  is  taken  as  a  compound  double 
term.     If  they  be  separated  tlie  scheme  becomes : 


b'      a 
In  eitJier  of  these  two  forms,  tlie  principle  of  fresh  terms  is  intro- 
duced, of  which  numerous  illustrations  are  found  in  Amos  (see 
below). 

a        b        c 
a'       d 
And-cut-off-shall-be     the-hornsof     the-altar, 
And-they-shall-fall     to-the-grouud.  3.14b 

Perhaps  a  third  term  should  be  added  in  the  second  stichos, 
though  no  evidence  points  to  the  nature  of  the  term.  Another 
possible  arrangement  of  this  is : 


For-three    sins-of    Damascus, 
Yoa-for-four,     I-wiU-not-revoke-it. 

This  occurs  as  the  introductorj'  formula  in  the  Doom  Song,  1.3a, 
6a,  9,  11a,  13a;  2.1a,  4a,  6a;  in  each  case,  the  name  is  changed. 
The  two  stichoi  are  metrically  equal;  though  the  first  itself  has 
no  verb  it  is  understood  from  the  second  stichos;  the  use  of 
the  terms  "tlirec"  and  "four"'  is  the  link  which  binds  the  two 
stichoi  into  a  parallel  couplet. 

[  144  ] 


WITH    COMPENSATION 

Double  Strui-turc 
Iiu'oiiiplcic    paiallilism    with    i-ouiponsatioii,    in    its    variotis 
types,  is  assisted  l>y  tlie  iU)ublc  tt'rni  structure  and  l>y  tlio  rnsh 
tt-riii  motif.     Exauiplts  of  tlu'  doiiMe  t>Tins  iM)m])cnsati(Pii  arr  as 
follows: 

a        b        V 
b'        c'2 
Vnliwo     froni-Zioii     roars, 
AiulfromJenisaleiii     lieiitti-rs     liisvoice.  1.2a 

I'roelaim     over-tlie-palaccs     iiiAsluloil, 

Aiul-ovor-tho-palaofs     iiitlielaiulof     Kgypt.  :i.!'a 

The  woril  hashwl'fi,  " proelaim, "  is  hero  a  part  of  tiie  parallel- 
ism, and  is  different  from  the  phrases  of  postlude  and  prelude 
wliieh  tlie  prophet  employs  before  and  after  his  main  speeches. 

Anil-he-slinlllift-up     you     witli-Iiooks, 

Aiulthelasit-of-you     witlifish     hooks.  4.2 

Doubt  nttaehes  to  this  vei-se  (Harper,  p.  Sfj).  It  is  diffieult  to 
render  in  the  translation  the  faet  that  dfiyhii  is  the  third  term  in 
the  .steond  stiehos;  it  shoidd  in  reality  be  read:  "hooks  of  tish"; 
it  is  also  diftie\ilt  to  sliow  in  the  translation  the  double  eharaeter 
of  the  compound  phrase. 

Oo-to     Bethel     aniltransKrcss; 

To-Gilgnl    anil-nuiltiply    transgression.  4.4a 

Woe-to     thnso-that-arc-at-oase     iiiZiun, 
Amlthosc-thataresecure     inthe-mountain-of     Samaria.  6.1a 

Aiiil-thooe-who-oat     lambs     oiit-of-the-flock, 

.-Viid-calves     from-the-iniilst-of    the  stall.  6.4b 

The  preposition  uiittnkh  receives  here  a  full  word  accent. 

Hear  this,     yethat  trea.l     thenee.ly, 
Anil-ye-whowoiiMniakeceaso     the  poorof     the  earth.  S.la 

.Vjraiii  as  in  3.9a  a  prophetic  prelude  i)hrase  receives  a  word 
accent  and  is  aeeoiinted  a.s  part  of  the  parallelism.  Moreover 
in  the  first  stiehos  the  word  'ibhijon.  wliich  has  but  one  accent, 
is  parulleled  in  the  sicond  stiehos  by  'anhiv-'iri\;  which  has  two 
accents. 


[  l-»5 


90  ParaUcIism  in  Amos 


b'2     c' 
And-I-will-cut-off     the-inhabitant     from-Bikath-Aweu, 
AnJ-the-holder-of     the-seeptre     from-Beth-Edeu.  1.5b,  8a 

Bring     every-morning     your-sacrifices, 

Every-three    days    your-tithes.  4.4b 

The  phrase  li-sh<^l6sheth  yaiiihii  translated  by  the  Jewish  Trans- 
lation "after  three  days"  gives  difficulty  (Harper,  p.  92)  ;  the 
schematic  arrangement,  however,  is  unaffected. 

a        b        c 

c'        b'2 
Because-they-sell     for-silver     the-righteous, 
And-the-needy     foi'-the-value-of    a-pair-of-shoes.  2.6b 

To-buy     for-silver     the-poor, 

And-thc-ueedy     for-the-value-of     a-pair-of-shoes.  8.6 

These  two  almost  identical  verses  both  have  in  the  second  stiehos 
tlie  preposition  h(i-'"lili fir,  which  means  "for  the  sake  of"  or 
"on  account  of."  Thduijh  m  prcjiosition,  it  receives  a  full  word 
accent,  as  did  mit-tokli  in  (i.4b,  and  hence  is  translated  "for- 
the-value-of"  in  order  to  sliow  tliat  it  is  a  distinctive  element 
in  the  thought. 

And-they-sliall-ean     tlic-husbaudiiian     to-nioiirniiig, 
And-to-vailing     those-sliilled     in-lamentatiou.  5.16b 

This  couplet  occurs  in  a  larger  setting;  Harper  treats  it  as  cor- 
rupt and  omits  the  second  stiehos  entirely,  thus  destroying  the 
parallelism.  The  error  may  perhaps  lie  in  the  first  stiehos  of 
verse  17  (see  below).  Difficulty  also  attaches  to  the  grammatical 
construction.     (Harper,  p.  126ff.) 

But-let-wen-iip     like-waters     ju.stice, 

Aiid-righteousuess     as-a-stream     pvcr-floiving.  5.24 


Tliey-hate     liim-tliat-in-the-gate     reproveth, 
Aiid-oiie-who-speaks     uprightly     they-abhor. 


They-ivho-tnni      to-woriinvood      judgment, 
Aud-righteousncss     to-the-ground     they-east. 


[146] 


I'ariillilisni  in  Aiikis  91 

A    -lii,'lit    tl.ml.t    attiiclics   to   this   coiipltt  ;    tlic   sflifin.'    may    he: 
a         b         (■ 
c'        il        a' 

a         b        c 

c'2      b' 
Wlio-likc-the-hi'ightof     tlic-oodars     wnslii"  liij;li, 
Aml-.stroiiK     washo     likf-tlii>-iiaks.  2.9b 

This  L-miph't  pcriiiits  of  othiT  st-lnniatizatioiis : 
a2       b 
b'2      a' 

This  takos  in  the  Hi'st  stii-hos  k'-<ihi'ihluih-'"r<'nhn   as  imv  word 
aci'i'iit.  ami  in  the  sceoiul  x''".'""-l'n'  "■''  '••"'  ai-i-fiit. 

n         b        c 

c'        b' 

This  regards  x<h'<'»t-h " '  «*>  o'K"  word  accent.     Hut  it  is  lietter  to 
:.'ive  hiii'  ill  itself  one  aeeent  and  retain  tlie  first  sehenie. 

For     ye-haveturiiO(l     topoison     justice, 

Ami  tlio-fruit-of    ri);litoousness     to-wornnvood.  0.12b 

Fn.ih   Tinn   Slructur,: 

Ineoinph'te    parallelism   with    eompensatioii    by   means   of   a 
fresh  term  or  terms  appears  in  several  variations:  The  forms 


have  no  instances  in  Amos. 

The  fresh  terms  may  ln'  either  one,  two,  or  three  in  number, 
a        b        0 
a'       b'       .1 

The  couplets  in  S.lab,  8.8b,  and  P.ob  may  come  under  this  ela.ss- 
iHcation.  but  they  will  be  diseus.scd  under  others  below. 

.Viiilthore  shall  porisli     tlip-liousos-of     ivory, 

Anil-tluTcslinll-coaso     many     Iiousom.  3. Mb 

As  in  7.4,  the  translation  d<M-s  not  show  that  rabbim  stands  after 
its  noun,  and  is  the  third  member  in  the  stichos.      While  in  6.4 


92  F'araUelism  in  A)iios 

the  word  "ivory"  may  perhaps  have  the  suffix  "their"  as  a 
corresponding  term,  here  it  has  the  weak  "many."  The  form 
may  be  also : 

a        b        e 


a'        d         c' 
And-I-will-turu     my-hand     against-Ekron, 
And-there-shall-perish     the-remnant-of     the-Philistines.  1.8b 

And-I-will-cause-to-set     the-sun     at-noon, 

And-I-will-darken     the-earth     in-the-clear-day.  8.9 

If  it  be  argued  that  Id-'dreg  is  parallel  to  hash-shemesh,  then  the 
arrangement  becomes : 


And-I--will-send     fire     into-Teman, 

And-it-will-devour    the-palaces-of     Bosra.  1.] 

And-I-will-send     fire     into-Judah, 

And-it-Tvill-devour     the-palaces-of     Jerusalem.  2 

Aud-I-will-send     fire     into-Moab, 

And-it-will-devour     the-palaees-of     Kerioth.  2 

These  are  three  of  the  instances  of  the  punishment  formula  i 
the  Doom  Song.  The  other  instances  occur  under  the  four  ten 
variations  (see  below;  see  also  a  discussion  on  5.6b). 


d         b'        c' 
And-I-will-make-it      as-tlie-mourning      for-an-only-son, 
And-the-end-thereof     as-a-dav-of     bitterness. 


By-the-sword     shall-die     Jeroboam, 

And-Isracl     shall-surely-be-exiled     from-liis-land.  7.11 

The  question  of  word  accents  here  is  troublesome.  The  ]ihrase 
(jdlri-i/if/hlr  receives  only  one  word  accent  to  correspond  with 
ydiiifitli:  the  same  is  true  of  mP- al-\iilh»u'ithd. 

a        b2 

a'        b'        c 
And-it-rises-up     like-the-Nile     all-of-it, 
Aiid-sinks    like-the-Kile-of    Eg^-pt.  9..5b 


[US] 


I'anilhllsn,   iu  Amos  9:i 

Tills  iM.iiplrt  is  i.l.iitiral  with  S.8,  fxwpt  for  tlif  fiu-t  tliat  111.- 
latter  i-ontaiiis  in  tin-  stvoiul  stii-lios  at  its  head  w'-iiitjhr'shri, 
■"aiul-hiave";  this  is  elearly  a  gloss  wliieli  I'di*  several  reasons 
(, Harper.  ]).  ISO)  ean  l)e  omitted.  It  has  already  lieeii  suggested 
that  these  eoiiplets  eoidd  eoiiie  under  the  I'orui : 


a'        c  b' 

Arc-tliey-bettcr     thanthcse     kingdoms, 
Isgrentcr     theirbordcr     tlmn-your-bor<lor.  C.2b 

The  suffixes  liere  cause  difficulty,  aiul  the  ineauing  is  not  entirely 
clear  in  the  light  of  the  preceding  and  following  stichoi;  the 
parallelism  is.  however,  uiuitTected  (Harper.  ]).  14.')). 

A  group  of  couplets  wherein  parallelism  with  compensation 
occui-s.  though  the  text  itself  is  in  a  doutitful  state,  is  found  in 
2.14-16.  As  the  strophe  on  the  punishmiiit  which  is  to  over- 
take the  strongest  and  .swiftest  now  stands,  its  schematic  char- 
acter is: 


a         1)         c  a2         b         c         d 

a'2  b' 
liii.-.-  ii.u|)lets  and  a  single  stichos  make  up  the  series;  but  the 
fact  that  several  repetitions  mar  the  text  and  the  fact  that  the 
.Mas.soretic  division  of  verses  14  and  lo  makes  each  contain 
three  stichoi,  while  verse  16  has  an  extra  long  and  repetitious 
line,  throws  doubt  upon  the  state  of  the  jiassagc.  It  .seems 
plausible  that  the  author  intended  that  the  strophe  should  con- 
tain three  parallel  couplets,  and  that  the  text  should  contain  as 
few  re|)etitions  as  possible.  Various  reconstructions  have  been 
suggested,  but  none  have  kept  in  niiiul  the  need  for  parallelistic 
cDupb'ts.      Tlie  following  restoration  is  therefore  suggested: 

If'-  'ahhadh  miiiu'm  miqqal 

w'qal  b'-raghlAv  In'  jiimmalt'l  Ua,  15b 

Wphibbor  16'  yaffil  naphthii  1  tl>,  11c 


94  Paralklisiti  in  Amos 

W-thoplies  qeshcth  16'  ya'"itwdh 

w^-rokliebh  has-stls  ydiviis  15a,  15c,  Kib 

And-there-shall-fail     refuge     from-the-swift, 
And-the-speedy-of-foot     shall-not-escape, 

And-the-strong,     notsliallavail     his-strength, 
And-the-warrior     not-shall-he-deliver     himself, 

And-he-that-handles     a-bow     shall-not-stand, 
And-the-rider-of-a-horse     shall-flee. 

This  arrangement  is  by  no  means  free  from  criticism.  In  the 
first  couplet,  there  is  a  repetition  of  the  word  qal  which  on  the 
principle  that  identical  repetitions  mar  the  form,  is  not  satis- 
factory, despite  tlie  fact  tliat  the  phrase  in  reality  is  qal  b<^-ragldw, 
"speedy -of -foot."  In  the  second  couplet,  the  first  stichos  seems 
justifiable,  but  the  second  demands  the  change  of  the  words: 
yiiifilli't  iiaphsho  to  ijaggll  luiphsho  to  avoid  repetition  (cf.  Amos 
3.12;  Is.  44.20,  etc.) ;  or  the  root  pdl-at  might  be  substituted  for 
mdlat  in  one  ease.  The  third  couplet  has  the  virtue  of  bringing 
together  the  stichoi  which  contain  a  subject  with  a  modifier, 
which  in  the  schematization  becomes  a2  and  a'2.  The  difficulty 
lies,  however,  with  the  word  'drum  in  verse  16.  There  the  words 
ir' -'inn  mil'  I  ililn'i  baij-gihhorhii  aii]3c'ar  to  be  a  dittograjihy  or 
\ai'iaiit  of  ji'  'aiiuiu'c  qdxi~>  if  -jjibbor  in  verse  14,  hence  they  can 
be  omitted.  It  is  significant  to  note,  however,  that  verse  16  is 
the  only  stichos  which  declares  fiiglit  not  in  the  negative^  but  in 
the  affirmative.  In  tlie  arrangement  given  above,  the  word  'drum 
is  omitted,  though  it  may  be  inserted  in  the  second  stichos  of  the 
tliird  couplet,  giving:  "and  the  rider  of  a  horse  naked  shall  he 
flee."  It  may  be  possible,  however,  to  place  the  word  'drum 
in  tlie  first  stichos  of  this  last  couplet,  and  to  interpret  the  word 
"naked"  as  meaning  "without  weapon."  The  form  then 
becomes : 

And-he-that-handles-a-bow     naked     shall-stand, 

And-he-that-rides-a-horse     shall-not-flee. 

In  addition  to  the  change  remarked  in  the  first  stichos,  it  is  seen 
that  tlie  15'  is  transposed  to  the  second  stichos;  this  makes  the 
sense  that  even  the  one  best  equipped  to  flee  will  be  unable  to  do 
so.    The  schematic  arrangement  of  these  suggestions  becomes: 

[  150  ] 


a2       I. 
a-2b    b' 


In-  last  cDiipli't  is: 


WliatcviT  may  In-  llnni<.'lit  of  tlieso  suggestions,  it  seems  iiulisput- 
alili'  that  a  sextet  of  stielioi,  divided  into  three  jiairs,  may  have 
been  in  the  original  text.  Ilenee  the  prineiple  of  eouplet  par- 
allelism has  proved  hero  a  valuable  aid.  The  long  line,  appar- 
ently prose,  in  verse  16  has  shown  itself  to  be  illegitimate,  once 
more  vindicating  the  principle  that  a  breakdown  of  the  par- 
allelism and  tiie  presence  of  an  unattached  single  line,  whether 
isolated,  or  supposedly  a  part  of  a  triplet,  in  Amos  are  in  reality 
due  to  textual  corruption  (see  below). 

I'ofR  Term  \'ariatii>ns 
Four  term  variations  ai'e  not  frei|uent  in  Amos,  and  there  is 
MO  instance  of  the  form : 

a         I)         (■         il 
a'        b'        o'        ,1' 

Hut  tiie  following  scheme  is  present  wherein  the  second  stichos  is 
shorter  than  tlie  fii-st : 

a        b        c        .1 
a'        c'        iV 
Aii<t-onP'!iliall'!imito     tho-(jr«>at     lioiiae     iiito-spliiitorx, 
Anil-tliosmall     lioiiso     intocliips.  fi.ll 

Again  it  is  difficult  in  the  translation  to  show  that  the  terms 
"great"  and  "small"  occur  after  and  not  before  their  nouns  in 
the  Hebrew. 

Sorwill-wml     a-firo     int<>tlip|ioii,s<>-of     ilnznci, 
Aml-it-willdovour     tlie  palaoesiof     nonliailail.  l.-l 

This  instance  from  the  formida  of  destniction  in  the  Doom  Song 
presents  a  different  scheme  from  1.12;  2.2.  ij.  The  formulas  in 
1.7.  10,  14,  depending  on  the  fpiestion  whether  one  regard  the 

(  1-1  1 


96  ParaUrlism  in  Amos 

word  armc noihi'lid ,  "its  palaces,"  as  deserving  of  one  accent,  or 
of  two,  wlu'reby  tlie  suffix  cM.  "its,"  corresponds  to  the  name 
of  tlie  ri'spfctive  city,  can  take  either  tliis  scheme : 

a        b        c        d 

a'       c' 
or  this : 

abed 

a'       c'        d' 
So-I-will-send     a-fire     on-the-wall-of     Gaza,    (Tyre,   Eabba) 
And-it-willdevour     its-palaces  (or,  the  palaces  thereof). 

Forms  with  three  terms  in  the  first  stichos  and  four  in  the 
second  are  found  in  numerous  combinations: 
a         1)         c 
d         a'        b'        c' 
Who-twitter    to-the-sound-of    the-harp, 
Like-David     they-devise-for-themselves     instrumciits-of     song.  6.5 

This  couplet  is  dubious :  the  word  k'^-Ddwldh  is  probably  a  gloss 
(Harper,  p.  147)  ;  if  omitted  the  scheme  becomes: 

a        b        c 

a'        h'        (■' 

Doubt  also  attaches  to  the  distrilnition  of  the  accents  in  this 
couplet;  the  word  Idhciii.  "for  themselves,"  being  reckoni'd  in 
with  x''*'/' ''''''''■  "tlii'v  di'visr."  the  total   receives  but  one  licat. 


In-all     the-broad-places     there-shall-be-lamentation, 

And-in-all    the-streets    they-shall-say  :Alas,-Alas.  o.tOa 

This  couplet  occurs  in  a  setting  wherein  corruption  is  evident. 
This  schematization  of  the  text  regards,  contrary  to  the  cus- 
tomary usage,  the  word  h'-khol  in  both  stichoi  as  wortliy  of  a  full 
word  accent.  Harper  (p.  126ff.)  suggests  that  the  word  '"(lln'indi 
at  the  end  of  the  iirophetic  phrase  introducing  the  couplet  be 
read  'arnin,  "I  will  cause  shouting": 

I-will-cause       shouting     in-all-the-sqnares     for-mourniug. 

And-in-all-the-streets     they-shall-say  :Woe,Woe. 

This  gives  to  h<  -l-hiif-r'\dhdth  and  bf-khol-xugdth  only  one  word 
accent,  thus  roiifdrniiny-  with  the  Massoretie  nwqqeph  (see  Gray, 
pp.  138-140).      The  arrangement  thus  becomes: 


[152; 


a         l>         e 
b'2      c"2 
Wlu'M     tlieri'shnllovortakc     tlioploiinlinmii     tliercnpor, 
Aiulthc-trcadpr-of     grapes     liim-wlio-soweth     scoil.  9.\3a 

Again  tlu'  (|Ui'stioii  of  word  tout'  i-ntiTs  to  throw  doubt  on  this 
nrraiiponient.  Tlierc  arc  liero  four  words  of  major  character  in 
the  second  stidios  to  exjiress  two  compound  ideas  corresponding 
to  two  simple  nouns  in  the  first  stichos  witii  only  one  accent 
each;  the  scheme  may  thus  be,  though  with  less  plausibility, 


The  following  couplet  contains  several  peculiarities;  the  first 
is  the  phrase  i.tht'kha  bd-'lr,  •'thy  wife  in  the  city,"  tin-  second 
the  doid)le  subject  in  the  second  stichos,  together  with  the 
unusual  idea  'Mhy  daughters  shall  fall  by  the  sword."  As  the 
eou])let  stands  it  reads: 

Thy  wife     in-tliocity     simll-lio-a-linrlof, 

Aii.l-tliysoiis    nnil-thy-iianulitcrs     by-tlic  sword     sliall-fall.      7.17a 


a         b         0 
a'2      .1         c' 

A  rcassortmont  of  the  phrases  here  would  be  necessary  to 
give  a  good  parallelistic  couplet ;  the  omission  of  the  word 
II  hh'  nnthikhi'i  would  nuike  the  scheme: 


Another  doubtful  couplet   occurs   in  8.13.      As  it  .stands  it 
falls  into  this  .scheme: 

a        b        c 
b-       d 
Thore-shall-fnint     thcboautiful     virKins, 
AnJ-tho-youths     from  thirst. 


[  l.-,3 


98  FarallcUsm  in  Amos 

The  Jewish  Translation  glides  over  the  difficulty  by  translating 
without  regard  to  the  parallelism : 

lu  that  day  shall  the  fair  virgins, 

Aud  the  young  men  faint  for  thirst. 

Harper  (p.  183  fif.),  recognizing  the  flaw  in  the  text,  transposes 
the  end  period  of  verse  14  and  makes  this  combination : 

There-shall-faint     the-beautiful     virgins, 

And-the-youths     shall-fall     and-not-rise-again. 
Tliis  gives  the  schematization : 


A  suggestion  may  be  made  that  the  emphasis  upon  the  word 
hay-ydphoth,  "the  beautiful,"  is  unnecessary,  and  that  instead 
a  form  of  the  root  yd'eph,  "to  be  weary,"  or  "faint,"  should 
be  substituted.  This  is  borne  out  by  Is.  40.30,  where  the  root 
is  used  of  youths,  n^'drhn,  as  a  parallel  to  the  word  used  by  Amos, 
baxiirim.  Moreover  in  Is.  44.12,  the  root  is  used  in  connection 
with  hunger  and  thirst,  both  of  which  are  mentioned  immediately 
before  this  ver.se  in  Amos  8.11-12.  In  Judges  8.15,  the  par- 
ticipial adjective  is  used  of  weakness  from  lack  of  bread,  and 
in  II  Sam.  16.2  from  lack  of  drink.  The  following  emendations 
may  be  suggested : 

1.  tith'<aiaplind  hcih-hnhiVoth  ha-y>^' cphoth, 
w'^hah-haxiirim  yi^md  'ft. 

There-shall-faint     the-virgins     who-are-weary, 
And-the-youths     shall-be-in-thirst. 

2.  titW aUaphna  hah-bHMloth, 
n-<:-iiri'<'pliu  lidb-haxiirlm  ha^-gama'. 
There-shall-faint    the-virgins, 
And-there-shall-grow-weak     the-youths     from-thirst. 

The  schematization  of  this  couplet  thus  becomes, 

a         b 

a'        b'        c 
This  form   is  unusual,  but   it   will  be   noted  that  the   redupli- 
cated root  tith'allaphiifi  may  take  two  beats,  as  in  the  case  of 
tithmdghaghnd  in  9.13b. 

What  may  be  citlier  a  four  or  a  three  term  structure  depend- 
ing upon  the  distri])ution  of  word  accents  is  found  in  this 
couplet : 

[154] 


rardllt  Usui  in  Ainos  99 

Lo.st-it  kiniiU'     likolirt-     tlio-housp-uf    JoHopli, 

Anilitdevour     with  iioiioto  oxtinKiii»h     for-Bethol.  n.til. 

The  Septungiiit,  sdiiu"  innmiscri])ts,  and  tlie  di-niaiids  of  |):ir;ill<l 

ism    point    toward   tlii*    roadiiis   "for    Isrucl"    instead  <>{     ■  tor 

Hctlirl.'"      Mon-ovt-r  tlie  terms  an-  not  entirely  clear  in  sense. 
The  selieiiiatie  arranfrement  becomes: 


There  are  fonr  terms  iiere  referrint;  to  tire:  in  the  second  stichos 
the  phrase  H'-'i'n  m'khabbv,  " with-none-to-exlinsiuish,"  receives 
one  accent;  it  is  doubtful  whetlu'r  it  should  be  taken  as  a  new 
term,  or  as  a  synonymous  term  to  kd-'csh  in  the  first  stiehos; 
moreover  the  name  Beth-Yoseph  receives  here  two  word  accents; 
it  may  be  better  to  jrive  it  only  one;  anotlier  sehennitie  arranfre- 
ment  thus  becomes: 


RKDI'PI.ICATION 

Reduplication  or  internal  synonj-mity  oecni-s  often  in  Amos. 
This  diffei-s  from  the  mere  double  synonymous  term  or  double 
compound  term  species,  in  that  in  the  .same  stiehos  there  are  two 
shades  of  the  same  idea;  the  two  hemistichs  arc  parallel  each  to 
each;  tlie  synonymity  and  parallelism  extend  also  to  the  second 
stiehos.  so  that  there  are  cases  where  three  terms  for  the  same 
thought  are  employed.  It  will  be  seen  also  that  this  redupli- 
cation results  in  a  type  of  triplet  formation.  (Sec  Gray's 
reiinuks,  ])p.  ir)9-lGt). ) 


Anil-thoro-iihall-poriiih      intuniult      Monb, 
With-shoutiiig     nndthC'Sounil-of     tlic-triinipct. 


Andburn     of-lcavoncd-brca<l     n  thankofToring 

Anil-proolaini     frco-wiIl-offcrin(pi,     makcthom-known.  4.."ii 

Doubt  attaches  to  the  word  hashmi'u,  though  as  a  synonym  for 
qir'ii  it  is  intelligible.  But  the  n^petition  rt'sults  in  a  special 
eniphnsis  on  the  idea  of  prmdamntion  or  invitation,  rather  than 

[  >55  I 


100  ParaUellsii,  in  Amos 

on  that  of  the  offering  itself;  perhaps  then  the  text  is  corrupt, 
and  a  parallel  term  to  iiit-xdmei;,  "of  leavened  bread/'  should  be 
soufjht  to  replace  /u/.s7ni(7' (^  "make  them  known." 


I-liate,     I-dcspise    your-feasts, 

And-I  will-not-smell     of-your-festivals.  5.21 

This  has  alread.y  been  discussed  under  the  form  |  ":^  ^\.  The 
arrangement  given  here  eliminates  the  confusion  attaching  to 
the  use  of  the  symbol  a2  for  a  double  synonymous  term  in 
the  same  stichos,  which  may  thus  be  viewed  as  reduplication. 
Compare  8.17a. 


Dhniuishiug-the-ephah,     aud-enlargiug     the-shekel, 
And-perverting     balances-of     deceit.  8..5b 

This  form  may  be  regarded  either  as  a  triplet,  wherein  the  first 
two  hemistichoi  lieeome  stiehoi  of  two  stresses  each,  and  the  third 
contains  three  sl)-csscs;  nv  the  fir.st  stichos  maj'  continue  a.s  here 
to  hold  two  hemisticlioi  of  two  stresses  each,  giving  a  couplet 
wherein  the  first  stichos  contains  four  and  the  second  three 
accents.  (See  Gray,  p.  164.)  It  is  virtually  impossible  to  fix 
a  rule  for  the  determination  of  all  instances  of  this  character; 
each  must  be  decided  on  its  own  merits,  though  a  guiding  prin- 
ciple may  be  the  strength  of  the  pause  or  caesura  between  the 
two  first  hemistichs. 

aba'        b' 

a"  c  b" 
Hate  evil,  and-love  good, 
And-establish    in-the-gate    jxistk'e.  5.15a 

Here  there  is  an  internal  antithetic  jiarallelism  in  tlie  first  stichos, 
or  if  5.15b  be  regarded  as  a  tri])li't.  bi'twecn  the  first  and  second 
stichos;  the  term  hash-sha' ar  is  the  only  alien  term  in  the  scheme, 
for  the  three  verbs  and  the  tlirrc  objects  are  respectively  either 
synonymous  or  antitlietical. 

a        b        a'        b' 

a"       b"       a" '     2 

[  156  ] 


Not-n-propliet     ninl,     nniliiota-prupliot '.s-son     ninl, 
But-nslii-phord     niii-I,     aiul-ailro»»iT-of     syoniiiorc's.  7.14 

lltiv  the  i|iit'stioii  wlu'tluT  tin-  luniisticlis  should  lie  fouiiti'd 
as  full  stii'hoi,  iiulepcndcnt  and  composed  of  two  stresses,  thougli 
part  of  a  larger  st'ttiii'r.  receives  furtiier  eoniidieatioii.  The  first 
stiehas  has  already  been  treated  independently  as  a  two  stress 
distich  (see  above).  It  is  therefore  i)ossible  to  treat  this  verse 
either  as  a  double  distich,  or  as  a  two  part  couplet.  It  is  almost 
impossible  to  determine  which  is  preferable.  The  usual  niunber 
of  stresses  is  three;  four  are  infre(|uent,  two  still  more  infre- 
ipient ;  hence  it  is  a  choice  between  considering  this  as  a  four  or 
two  stress  scheme.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  fourth  part  of  the 
i|uadruple  form  breaks  the  synonymity  of  language,  but  retains 
the  necessary  number  of  stres.ses.  Viewed  independently  the 
second  line  can  be: 

u         l> 


a.         1)         (• 

a'        a"2     (1 
Aiiil-thy-lanil     by-tlie  line    sliall-bc-dividod, 
Aml-tliou    onaiiunclrandand    shalt-die.  7.17b 

This  presents  an  involved  type  of  parallelism  ;  a  third  stichos 
complicates  the  pa.s-sage,  though  this  couplet  appears  to  be  inde- 
jiendent  (see  below).  Here  the  word  "land"  in  the  fii-st  stichos 
fiiuls  in  position  and  thought  a  complement  in  "thou"  at  the 
head  of  the  second  stichos.  The  parallelism  does  not  cea.se  here, 
for  there  is  a  parallelism  of  language  and  an  im])lied  antithesis 
i>f  thought  al.so  between  "thy-land"  in  stichos  1  and  "an-unclean- 
land"  in  stichos  2,  the  former  being  "clean  and  holy."  The 
schematic  arrangement  here  given  serves  to  bring  out  in  a 
measure  the  double  parallelism,  though  it  neglects  partly  the 
grammatical  construction  of  '<il-'"flh(lmd  t'liii'i'i,  a  noun  with  a 
preposition,  looked  ujwn  as  a  double  compound  term,  as  |)arallel 
to  tulmnlh'khil,  which  is  the  subject  in  the  first  stichos  and 
receives  only  one  word  accent.      For  this  of  course  the  intricacy 

[  l-'7  1 


of  tlie  parallelism  is  responsible.  Compare  9.15,  where  diffieulty 
with  the  words  'al  'adhmdthfkhd  is  again  present. 

Alternate  Parallelism 
clear  parallelism 
Alternate  parallelism  occurs  when  the  two  stichoi  contain 
more  tliau  four  or  as  few  as  four  terms,  and  break  up  into  two 
independent  clauses,  so  that  the  third  part  is  parallel  to  the  fii-st 
and  the  fourth  to  the  second.  In  many  examples  of  Arabic 
saj'  or  rh.ymed  prose,  nearly  all  the  parallel  sections  fall  into 
two  independent  clauses,  subordinate  from  the  view  of  the  par- 
allelism which  knits  together  the  two  main  stichoi,  but  marked 
by  rhyme  which  connects  them  at  the  same  time  that  it  empha- 
sizes their  distinction;  sometimes  one  type  of  rhyme  is  present 
for  the  first  and  third,  and  another  for  the  second  and  fourth 
sections  of  the  quatrain.  lu  the  Hebrew,  no  rh>-me  occurs,  but 
the  caesura  between  the  individual  parts  is  strongly  marked 
(Grav,  pp.  62-63). 

a         b         c         [|         d         e 

a'        b'       c'        II         d'       e' 

■  ■  A  seri&s  of  alternate  parallelisms  of  this  type  occurs  in  Amos 
(3.3ff.)  :  verses  3,  4,  5,  6,  conform  to  this  type;  verse  3,  how- 
ever, contains  only  a  single  line  which  splits  into  two  parts; 
verses  4,  5,  6  have  two  lines,  thus  giving  to  each  Massoretic  verse 
four  sections,  two  main  and  two  subordinate.  Verse  7  breaks 
the  stretch  of  alternate  parallelism,  but  verse  8  resumes  it, 
though  tlie  form  is  slightly  changed,  four  instead  of  five  terms 
being  present: 

a         b         II         e         d 

a'        b'        II         c'        d' 

Tlie  lack  of  a  second  stiehns  in  vcrsi'  3  lends  the  impression 
eitlier  that  the  vei-se  is  in  tlie  nature  of  an  introduction,  setting 
the  keynote  for  the  series,  or  that  a  complementary  stichos  has 
dropped  out. 

Tlie  arrangement  of  verse  7  is  difficult.      For  tlie  moment 
it  may  be  arranged  : 

xa       b       c 

x'a'        c'        d2 

[158] 


I'tiralltlisin  in  Ainus  103 

Tilt'   paralli'lisiii   in   tlu'   IK'ln-t'w   is   not   so  close  as  tlif  si'lu'iiio 
iiulifiitts;  till"  viTsi-  lias  a  tnulitioiial  proplictie  eharai-tcr,  and 
must   be  Voiisiiloivil   under   the   eate<;ory   of   near-prose.       Sufj- 
gestions  have  been  made  either  to  phiee  it  after  verse  8,  or  to 
omit   it  etitirely  as  a  ploss.      The  first   sufrf,'estion   would   trive 
five  eonseeutive  verses  of  excellent  alternate  parallelism : 
(3) 
Do  tliori'walk     two     to|»ctlior, 
Exfppt      thi'V-bi'  a<;roi'tl  ? 


Doos-there-roar     a-lion      iii-thoforost, 

Wlienajirey     ho-lintli-not  f 
I>0(".sthi"re(;ivi"-fortli-his-voicc     a-youuK-lion      from-liis-don, 

I  t'-lioliatli-iiot     takon-somotliing  } 

(5) 
DocS'thcrc-fall     a-bint     in-a-snarc-on-tlicgroiind, 

If-a-hiiiiter     tliercbo-not-for-it  f 
Dopsthere-springup     a-trap     from-tho-grouiKl, 

Without-capturing    anythingat  all f   (i.e.,  unless  it  Ijo  sprung). 
(6) 
SliaIl'tliprp-soun<l     n-trumpct     intlic-city, 

AnJ-the-pcoplc     not-bo-afraid  1 
Stiall-tlierc-be     evil     in-tlieoity, 
And-the-Lonl      not-Iiavodonc-itt 
(7) 
Kor     not-doth     the-Loril-God     anything, 
Exocptho-revpal     his-purpose     to  his-servants,     the     prophets. 

(8) 
Thc-Lion-    has-roareil; 

Who     will-notfearf 
The-Lord  God     hath-spokcn ; 

Who     can-butprophosy  f 

In  verse  6,  it  may  be  urjifd  tliiit  tin'  parallelism  hrtwien 
"trumpet"  and  "evil"  is  not  suflieiently  close,  and  that  the 
second  half  of  tiie  (|tintraiii  has  been  inserted  by  reason  of 
verse  7 ;  a  substitute  covdd  be  found  in  the  more  .synonymous 
two  part  line: 

■im  lihyf  fni'ii  ba-'ir  (or  baqqiryd) 

ir'  'nm  16'  yaqiimii   (or  i/ipfcx"*""') 

Shall-thpre-l>c     a  clarion-blast     in-the-city, 
And-thc-pcoplc     not-risc-in-tcrrorf 

[159] 


104  ParalhlLsm  in  Amos 

But  there  seems  little  ground  thus  to  omit  and  substitute;  rather 
as  first  suggested,  verse  7  seems  more  indefensible  and  mis- 
placed, and  sliould  either  be  transposed  or  ruled  out.  '  Compare 
Hosea  10.10,  11. 

Another  series  of  alternate  parallelisms  of  a  similar  char- 
acter is  found  in  9.2—4.  Again,  however,  difficulties  arise,  for 
verses  2  and  3  each  have  two  stiehoi  hikI  four  subordinate  pai'ts, 
while  verse  4  diverges  from  this  phtii.  The  schematic  arrange- 
ment is  as  follows : 

(2) 
a         Ij         c         II         d         e 
a'        b'        c'        II         d'        e' 

(3,  4) 
a        b        e2       II         d        e         f 
a'         1/      gc'2       |!  d         e2        f 

Noting  the  lacunae,  the  text  at  ]iresent  reads : 

(2) 
Though     thcy-dig-through     to-Slieol, 
Thence     shall-my-hand-take-them ; 
And-though     they-elimb     to-heaven. 
Thence     will-I-bring-them-down. 
(3) 
And-thougli      they-hide-themselves      at-the-top-of      Carniel, 

Thence     ivill-I-search-them-out     aud-take-theni, 
And-though      they-hidc      froni-l)efore-niy-eyes      at-thc-bottom-of 
tlie-sea, 


Tlionce     will-I  command     the-scrpent     and-it-will     bite-them, 

w 

And-though     they-go     into-captivity     before-their-encmie.s, 
Thence     will-I-eommand     the-sword     and-it-will-slay-them. 

The  schematic  arrangement  shows  that  as  the  text  stands  it 
contains  a  couplet  and  a  triplet,  or  two  quatrains,  and  a  half 
quatrain.  \'arioiis  suggestions  have  been  made  to  explain  the  use 
of  "serpent""  in  verse  3,  one  of  which  is  to  make  it  refer  to  the 
Leviathan.  Amos,  however.  s]ieaks  of  the  serpent  a.s  a  creature 
of  tlie  fields  and  of  the  liouse  (5.19),  not  of  tlie  sea.  The 
suggestion  that  a  scribe  may  liave  omitted  the  fourtli  part  of 


riGO] 


runilhlisiii 


Amos 


105 


v.Tsi-  :!,  and  till'  lirst  part  uf  tlir  third  t|iiatraiii  in  nrdi-r  ti)  make 
thf  wliolf  iM.nfdrin  to  tli.'  l^i'viatlum  Irfjcnd,  is  far  fftclicd,  for 
tlioiifjli  lie  inijrlit  c'haiijft'  h  few  words,  it  is  doiibtftil  wiictlu'r 
ho  would  omit  a  whole  si'iiteiK-o.  MorooviT  the  Ma.ssorctic 
vi-rsi'  4  lias  after  the  fiid  of  the  (|iiatrain  arraufieinent,  the  sen- 
tenee:  " Aiul-I-shall-i»laee  iny-eyes  upon-theiu  for-evil  and- 
iiot-for-giHul. "  The  iuissin<;  sci-tions  may  find  some  liiiit  for 
restoration  here;  verse  ."1,  part  :{  mentions  tlie  faet  that  tlie 
sinners  would  escape  from  God's  eyes;  the  arranjrenient  lueoines 
perhaps : 

Aii.l-tliou|icli     tlioyliide     from  beforcniycyos     iit  tlieliottoiu  of     tlie- 


l-will-plai-o  myeyos  upouttiem  for-evil,  aml-uot-forgooil. 
This  would  mean  that  only  the  fii-st  part  of  the  third  (piatrain 
is  ahsent.  However,  it  has  been  supgested  that  the  phrase 
minnnjhidh  'I'luii,  "from-before-my-eyes,"  be  omitted  in  verse 
3:  the  last  part  of  verse  4  may  have  been  inserted  on  the  basis 
of  this  expression,  which  itself  may  have  been  an  insertion. 
It  is  evident  that  the  vci-scs  are  in  confusion,  and  that  they 
have  been  jostled  together  for  one  reason  or  another;  a  restora- 
tion is  difficult,  the  one  here  suggested  being  poor,  because  among 
other  things  it  neglects  the  use  of  the  phrase  viijth-shdm  at  the 
beginning  of  each  second  part  and  fourth  part  of  the  quatrain. 
The  sciiematic  character  in  its  proper  form,  to  be  filled  in  with 
the  missing  portions  shotild  be: 

(2) 


W 


a         b 

c       i; 

.1 

c 

a'        b' 

c'          11 

<!' 

e' 

a         b 

(3) 

,, 

e 

f 

a'        b- 

c'2      II 

1! 

a'        b'2 

c'2      II 

d' 

e 

k' 

A  series  of  a  different  character  is  found  in  5.11b  and  !l.l4b. 
a         b        c         I!         a         e 
a         b        c         II         <1         p 
Iloiiaos-of     honn-iitono     hovc-vc-built, 

Biit-yc  shall-not'ilwpll      in-thom ; 
Vinpyards-of     delight     havc-ypplniitPil, 

But-TC-shnll-notdrink      thpir-nine.  5.11b 

[1611 


106 


And-tliey-shall-plant     vineyards, 

And-clrink     their-wine, 
And-they-shall-make     gardens, 

And-eat     their-fruit.  9.14b 

Several  variations  of  these  forms  occur,  among  which  it  will 
be  seen  the  qina  measure  maj'  be  included  as  well  perhaps  as 
tlie  form 

a        b        c 

a'       b' 

and  its  several  variations  wliieh  liave  already  been  discussed. 

a         b         c         II         d         e 
e'        II         d'        e' 
When     will-i)ass     the-uew-nioou 

That-we-niay-sell     grain, 
And-the-Sabbath 

That-we-may -offer     corn.  8.5a   (Cf.  5.20) 


a'        b'       c'        II         d'2 
And-because     garments     taken-in-pledge     they-spread-oiit, 

Beside     every-altar ; 
And-the-wine     of-those-that-liave-been-fined     tliey-drink, 

In-the-house     of-their-God.  2.8 

The  Jewish  Translation  shifts  the  second  parts  of  the  sentences 
into  tlie  tirst  and  third,  thus : 

And  they  lay  themselves  down  beside  every  altar 

Upon  clothes  taken  in  pledge. 
And  in  the  house  of  their  God  they  drink 
The  vrine  of  them  that  have  been  fined. 

This  violates  in  some  degree  the  Hebrew  arrangement,  wherein 
a  prepositiojial  phrase,  not  in  itself  a  complete  period,  makes 
up  the  subordinate  parts  of  the  sentences.  This  usage  in  the 
Hebrew  seems  to  show  that  as  in  modern  poetry,  a  part  of  a 
quatrain  need  not  express  a  full  or  a  complete  independent  part 
of  a  full  idea,  but  may  be  a  mere  prepositional  phrase.  It  can 
be  noted  here  that  the  preposition  fgel,  "beside,"  receives  a 
word  accent.  Here  an  approach  is  made  to  the  style  of  Arabic 
rhymed  prose,  or  parallelistie  prose. 


[162] 


I'ardlliliitiii  i)i  Amos  107 


NEAR  rilDSP. 
Siiiioiiynioun  Siij' 

Tliis  ri'si'iiililaiii'O  to  parallel  prose  is  inaintaiiu'tl  hy  .').!;), 
apjiari'iitly  an  insert  between  the  poetie  verses  18  and  "JO,  wliieh 
deals  with  a  deseription  of  events  on  the  day  of  the  Lord;  the 
lan<rua<;e  is  prosaie,  and  the  conjunetion  k(i-'<'shcr,  "just  as," 
whieh  usually  interferes  with  the  normality  of  the  parallelism, 
is  pn  sent.  As  tin-  vei-se  stands  it  is  plotted  : 
xa  b  V  II  d  e 
.'•2  f2  g  ;|  ,1'  0' 
From  the  staiuli)oint  of  rhythm,  the  verses  have  the  same  swing 
and  virtually  tiie  same  lenjrth.  Question  has  been  directed 
against  the  member  fi-bhfi'  hab-haijith,  "and  lie  comes  to  the 
house."  The  Greek  lias  ihnnjSti<Tr],  which  gives  the  picture  of 
a  man  leaping  over  the  threshold  into  a  house.  Though  it  is 
possible  that  the  vei-se  wislus  to  eonvey  the  idea  that  in  a  crevice 
of  a  house  where  a  man  least  expects  it,  lie  will  be  attacked, 
nevertheless  tile  picture  can  be  of  a  man  fleeing  acro.ss  a  field, 
placing  his  hand  on  a  wall  to  vaidt  it,  and  disturbing  the  natural 
liat)itation  of  a  .serpent,  which  bites  him  (cf.  Eccl.  8.8).  On 
the  basis  of  strict  paralleli.sin.  the  word  yanfts,  "flee,"  in  the 
first  part  needs  a  complement  in  tlie  third,  in  such  a  form  as 
Oettli  suggests,  namely  fi-bhfirax,  "he  runs  away."  It  may  be 
protested,  however,  tliat  if  the  fii-st  terms  are  placed  in  exact 
parallelism,  the  othei-s  should  be  also;  possibly,  then,  despite 
the  resulting  unusual  triplet  formation,  three  distichs  were 
originally  present: 

A.i-if     thcre-ilid-flcc     niiinn     from  a-lioii, 
An<lthcre-met-him     a-l)onr, 

.\ii<lhc-cntcrccl     a-hotisc 

I  >r-lie-Ioane<l     hia-h&nil     on-tho-mall, 
An«lthprc-t)it-him     n-sorpcnt. 

It  Miins  lietter.  however,  to  maintain  the  quatrain  formation, 
despite  the  length  of  the  third  jiart  (ef.  3.12  below  I  : 
A.^  if     there  <li<l-flep     aniaii     from-a-lion, 

Aniltliers-mpthim      a-J)oar, 
Or-hoontercd     a  houae,     ami     Irnncd     hiH-hnml     on-tlu'-wnll, 
,\ii.l  fl„r..l,it  luin      n  «.'ri>ont. 

l.i.l  1 


108  Panillelism  in  Amos 

In  3.12,  the  same  pheuomenon  of  an  approximation  to  near- 
prose  is  present.  Tlie  language  is  prosaic;  the  prepositional- 
conjunction  ka-'"sher  heads  the  combination,  while  the  conjunc- 
tion ktn,  "thus,"  or  "so,"  heads  the  third  part,  unlike  5.19.  The 
thought  is  divided  clearly  into  two  halves,  the  first  dealing  with 
the  escape  from  the  lion,  the  second  dealing  with  the  application 
of  the  figure  to  the  escape  of  the  Israelites.  Though  the  lines 
are  excessively  long,  the  metrical  length  and  rhythm  are  vir- 
tually the  same.  Synonymity  is  maintained  throughout,  except 
that  in  the  tliird  part  of  the  quatrain,  the  phrase  niip-pi  ha-'^ri, 
"from  the  mouth  of  a  lion,"  is  balanced  by  hay-yoshebhim 
h'^ -Shorn'' ran,  "those  who  dwell  in  Samaria."  Oort  and  Bau- 
mann  regard  the  disturbing  phrase  as  a  later  insertion  and  omit 
it ;  Loehr  also  omits  it  as  a  gloss.  Instead  of  it,  the  suggestion 
has  been  made  to  read:  mip-p<'ne  hd-'dycbh,  "from-before  the 
enemy,"  to  jjarallel  "from  before  a  lion"  (Harper,  p.  81).  The 
present  scheme  is : 


x'a'        b'        b"2     II         d"       e" 
d" '     e"  ' 
It  can  be  seen  from  this  schematization  that  alternate  parallelism 
with  a  type  of  reduplication  exists  here.      The  emendation  sug- 
gested would  eliminate  the  disturbance  in  the  sense,  and  improve 
the  rhythmical  quality  of  the  text.      The  scheme  thus  becomes: 


x'a'        1)'        c'         II  d"       e" 

d"  '     e"  ' 
As     there-rescues     the-sliepherd      from-the-mouth-of      tlie-lion 

Two-legs     or     a-piece-of-ear, 
So     shall-escape     the-children     of     Israel     from-before-the     euenn-, 
With-the-eorner-of     a-coueh,     and-with-the-leg-of     a-bed. 

In  view  of  the  character  of  the  passage,  it  may  be  asked :  Is  this 
comparable  to  the  parallelistic  prose  of  the  Arabic  rhymed 
prose?  The  short,  terse,  three  term  character  of  the  usual 
couplet  is  missing;  is  it  that  the  alternate  parallelism  is  a  door 
to  a  special  tj-pe  of  prose  parallelism?  It  is  to  be  noted  also 
that  tlie  subordinate  parts  are  not  complete  in  themselves,  after 


[164; 


r,ir,ill(lisi,i  ill  Amos  UMI 

till"  mamiiT  of  .").!!•.  Imt  arc  ilutai-lii'd  portions  similar  to  'J.S 
U-f.  7.101.1. 

SiiitSjimiiiiimous  SiiJ' 

Xi-ar-piosc  ain»'ars  to  be  present  ajjaiii  in  7.1()l>.  This 
distieh  i.s  part  of  a  narrative  wliieli  seems  to  be  in  prose,  but 
wliieh,  it  will  be  seen  on  elo.ser  examination,  turns  out  to  be 
mostly  parallelistie  poetry  with  th<'  addition  of  several  prose 
l)lirases. 

Amu!<      liii!<  coiispirfil      u^jaiiiNt  tlicc  iii-tlu'iiiiilst-uf      tlii>-lu)iisi'-of- 

Isrnol, 
Not-nl>lo     i,s-tlic-laii(l  to-l)ear     all-liisi-worils. 

(         g         h  \  i-2 

Hliytlimieally  tlirsr  stielioi  tlioujjii  extra  long  in  eharaeter  .seem 
equal.  No  synonymity  exists  between  the  two  cxeept  in  tiie 
jreneral  eoneept  of  eonspiraey :  no  terms  are  eorrespondential 
with  the  ptKssible  exeejjtion  of  "tlie-land"  and  "hou.se-of-Israel." 
It  seems  possible  that  alternate  parallelistie  .sehematization  may 
be  employed  for  tiie  distich,  similar  to  the  usage  in  2.8;  thus: 
Amo.s     lias-i-oii!<pired     agniust-tlico, 

In  tliriiiiilstof     the  hotise-of      Israel, 
Not  al)le     is-tlic-land 

To-bcnr     alMiis-worJsi. 

Itut  iliK  (litTers  radically  from  the  usual  alteriuite  and  qhia 
measure,  and  cannot  be  advocated  with  any  degree  r)f  security. 
Tlie  distich  hiis  been  regarded  by  Loehr  and  others  as  bald 
prose.  Certainly  neither  complementary  nor  appositional  par- 
allelism fs  present  here;  i.e.,  where  a  single  member  of  one 
stichos  is  explained  by  a  whole  line  in  apposition  to  it,  as  in  the 
"sher  and  hi'i'oW^rim  clauses  (see  below);  if  this  is  to  be  re- 
ganled  as  parallelism,  tlten  every  symmetrical  statement  of  act 
and  result  is  parallelism.  It  seems  feasible  therefore  to  desig- 
nate this  distich  as  rhythmical  non-parallelism,  near-prose,  and 
similar  in  many  resjiects  to  the  Arabic  unrhymcd  siif . 

gl.S.\    P.\R.\I.LELISM 

From  an  examination  of  these  forms  of  alternate  parallelism 
which  approach  closer  and  closer  to  near-prose,  it  is  well  to  turn 
to  the  ^ififi-stroplie,  which  atlheres  to  the  form  of  alternat<'  par- 

[  ««••  ] 


110  ParallcUsm  in  Amos 

allelism  though  with  a  different  spirit  and  purpose.  The  true 
qlnd  is  genuine  poetry,  and  does  not  fall  vietim  to  tlie  danger 
of  becoming  near-prose,  or  even  prose,  as  its  prototype,  alternate 
parallelism,  becomes  at  times.  One  of  the-  best  examples  of 
qiim  in  prophetic  literature  is  found  in  Amos  5.2  and  3  (Gray, 
p.  119)  : 

Pallen     to-rise-iio-more  is-the-daugliter-of     Israel, 

Stretcheii-out     iipon-tlie-ground  with-none     to-raise-her.. 

The-city     that-goeth-fortli     a-thousand       shall-have-left     a-hundred, 
And-she-tliat-gocth-fortli     a-luindrod,  shall-haw-left     ten 

to-the-house-of     Israel. 

The  phrase  I'^-hhlth  Yisrd'Cl  gives  difiSculty:  either  it  must  be 
introduced  at  the  end  of  the  introductory  phrase  beginning 
verse  3,  or  better,  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  repetition  from  the 
introductory  phrase  beginning  verse  4;  or  it  may  perhaj^s  be 
placed  in  verse  6  instead  of  l^'-hhcth-'el,  which  is  clearly  an  error 
(see  Harper,  p.  112).    The  schematization  of  verses  2  and  3  is: 

a         b2  II         e2 

a'2  II         b'2 

a         b         c         II         d         e 
b         o'        II         d         e' 

Two  quid  couplets  thus  occur  here  which  in  inimber  of  terms 
have  each  apparently  this  form : 


It   is  pnssililc,  lio^ 

instead  of  one, 
form  3 :  2. 


SYNTHETIC  COUPLETS 
Up  to  this  point,  this  study  has  devoted  itself  to  a  consider- 
ation of  couplets  in  clear  parallelism ;  in  all  except  three  cases, 
there  has  been  no  question  of  the  poetical  character  of  the 
couplets,  nor  has  the  synonj^mity  of  the  parallelism  been  sharply 
affected.  It  is  necessary  now  to  pass  to  a  discussion  of  so-called 
"synthetic  couplets"  wherein  neither  synonymity  nor  parallel- 


•niul  line  of  the  firi;t  couplet 

md.' 

should  be  given  two  tones 

that 

line,   also,  would   have  the 

[  i<5g: 


ftinilldusm  in  Amus  111 

ism  is  so  close,  ami  wlu'i'f  tln'  twili-riit  /.our  lictwocii  pmsi'  ami 
poftry  is  most  I'vidi-iit.  It  has  lioi'ii  oliservi'il  Iumv  that  par- 
allrlism  is  not  an  infallible  test  of  poetry,  for  in  the  three 
examples  of  prosaie  alternate  parallelism,  the  synonymity  has 
been  close,  tiio\i{?li  lanjrnajr*'  nnil  form  has  pointed  more  towards 
the  designation  of  prose  than  poetry  (Gray,  p.  40). 

CLEAR  SYNTHETIC 

The  Rook  of  Amos  contains  several  couplets  wherein  the 
synonymity  between  the  terms  is  not  maintained,  but  where  the 
second  stichos  contains  a  continuation  of  the  thouy:ht  wherein 
perhaps  one  term  corresponds  to  another  in  the  first  stichos; 
the  second -stichos  usually  contains  a  statement  of  a  phase  of 
the  same  idea  as  the  first,  but  it  adds  a  new  detail.  These  may 
be  called  "clear  synthetic"  coujilets. 

Porlo,     he-forms     the-niountnins,     aiulcroatcs     tliowin.l, 

Anddeclares     unto-ninii      what-is-liis-tliouglit ; 


Ilc-innkcs     dnwii      dnrkuess, 
Anil-troads     iipontlio-lipiglits 
la         b 

-of     tlipoarth. 

a'        b' 

f 

j          k2 

' 

e  second  couplet  nniy  be 

represented 

These  two  couplets  are  part  of  a  do.xolofry,  and  are  knit  together 
by  the  participial  construction  at  the  head  of  each  stichos;  the 
central  idea  throuf;hout  is  praise  of  God,  but  each  stichos  con- 
tains a  new  statement  of  his  deeds.  The  first  stichos  contains 
an  internal  reduplication,  aba'  b'.  Rut  correspondence 
of  a  character  similar  to  other  parallelism  is  missing. 

Bcoau.w     yotraniple     on-tlio  wrak, 

And-pxartions-of-graiii     yc-takc     frnm-liim.  5.11 

The  central  idea  of  this  couplet  is  oppression  of  the  poor, 
though  synonymity  is  mi.'ising;  the  sehematization  is: 


[  1«7  1 


112  Parallclisiii  in  Atnos 

It  must  be  observed  that  the  conjunction  ya' an,  "because," 
receives  a  full  word  accent.  The  prepositional  phrase  in  the 
second  stichos  niinunciuiu,  "from  him,"  seems  to  correspond  to 
' '  on-the-weak. ' ' 

Therefore-now    they-sliall-go-iuto-cxile    at-the-head-of    tlieeaptives, 
And-sliall-pass-away     the-shout-of     tlie-bauquctcrs.  t).7 

X  a         b2 

dc         f 

Tlie  introductory  conjunction  receives  a  word  accent  thouji'h  it 
gives  to  the  first  stichos   four  tones,   and  to   the  second   three. 
Again  as  in  5.11,  the  uniting  thouglit  of  the  two  stichoi  is  the 
same,  but  the  second  adds  a  new  picture  to  the  plan. 
He-that-calls     for-the-waters-of     the-sea, 

Aiid-pours-them-out     upon-the-face-of     the-eartli.  5.8c,  9.0b 

a         b         c 
dec' 

Synonymity  is  present  here  in  the  terms  "sea"  and  "earth," 
perhaps;  each  stichos  is  a  syntactically  complete  line  in  itself; 
the  number  of  terms  in  each  is  the  same;  and  a  rhythmical 
principle  seems  present;  the  couplet  diverges,  however,  from 
the  normal  type  of  synonymous  parallelism,  in  so  far  as  the 
second  stichos  in  thought  is  a  continuation,  not  a  repetition  of 
the  first,  almost  as  one  prose  line  is  a  continuation  of  another 
— unless,  indeed,  a  species  of  "complementary"  parallelism  be 
recognized,  in  that  each  line  expresses  merely  another  phase  of 
the  thought,  "God  controls  the  waters." 

Shall-not-for-this     tremble     the-land, 

Aiiil-sliall-mouru     all-the-iuliabitants     therein.  8.8a 


?-that-touoliPs 
id-there-niouni 
a 

theearth,     and-it-melts, 
all-the-inhabitauts     therein, 
b         e 
0          b' 

c' 

b 
d 

b' 

[168] 


];,r,tU,lism   in  A>„„s  11:1 

hi  ra.-ll  of  tlusc  ui.iiplfls,  til.'  sc.Miiul  stirlios  t-oiitailis  the 
pivposition  "then'iii,"  which  is  syiionyiiiDiis  witli  '"tlu'-fiirth." 
Tliiiv  is  mort'  synonymity  in  tlic  iii-st  than  in  tlic  st-i-ond 
I'ouplet ;  altlioujrh  the  latter  t-ontains  in  its  first  stie-lios  two 
vcrlis  tlir  sn-ond  of  wliivli,  "ini'lts,"  may  l>i'  complementary 
to  the  verb  in  the  seeond  stiehos.  the  first  verb,  "touehes," 
has  no  complement.  The  spirit  and  languafie  and  environment 
of  these  two  couplets  sliow  that  they  are  clearly  poetry;  the 
exact  correspondent ial  charaettr  of  normal  jiarallilism  is  how- 
ever absent. 

Ala#-for     those-who-Ioiijjfor     tlio-ilay-of-Yaliwe, 

Wliprcforo-is-this     to-yoii     tlio-<lay  of-Yaliwi-.  5.18 


Each  stiehos  has  an  identical  term  iii'mi  '"<lli'hii'il :  the  meanin<r  of 
the  couplet  is  doid)tfid  and  a  triplet  formation  complicates  the 
problem. 

Aiul-mourii  sliall      tlio  jm.stiiros-of      tho-sliopln'r<ls, 

Amlilry-iip  sliall     tlictop-of     Carmcl.  l.'-l) 

a         b         c 

a'        b'        c' 

Or 

a         1)        c 
a'        b'2 

Or 

a        b        c 
a'        c         cl 

The  inetapliorical  expression  "the  mourninfj  of  tin-  iiasttins"' 
seems  to  signify  their  failure  to  produce  crops,  a  synonym 
therefore  for  the  ex|>re.ssi<in  "tlie  dryiiifr  up"  of  the  top  of 
Carmcl.  There  is  hen-  exact  eorrcspondence  of  terms,  each 
eontaininp  three  members;  hence  the  first  schematization  i.s 
possible.  Hut  if  the  expression  "the  top  of  Carmcl"  be  not 
repirded  as  .synonymous  to  "the  pastures  of  the  shepherds," 
till  II  .ither  the  seeond  or  third  form  is  admissible. 

In  S.12a  and  {).4b  occurs  a  special  form  wherein  the  seeond 
stiehos  is  a  short  nepative,  thus: 


f  1«9  1 


114  I'dnillrlisiii  in  Amos 

They-shan-run-liither-and-tliitlior     to-seck      the-word-of-Yahwe, 
But    they     shall     not    find     it. 

I-shall-place     my-eyes     upou-tliom     for-evil, 

And-not     for-good. 
This  is  a  frequent  formation  in  prophetic  writings ;  it  is  difficult 
to  suggest  its  schematization,  and  it  must  be  accepted  as  a  special 
structure  without  regard  to  its  symbols.     Cf.  the  usage  of  the 
term  ir' -fn  in' kithhi  in  5.6b. 

DOUBTFUL   SYNTHETIC 

A    gi'DU])    of    "tloubtful   synthetic"    couplets    is    present    in 

Amos  wliieli  are  so  styled  because  no  synonymity  is  present,  yet 

a  rhythmical  principle  seems  to  operate,  while  the  text  itself  is 

unclear.     Among  these  couplets  may  be  reckoned  the  following : 

Becanse-they-delivered-up      a      complete-captivity      to-Edom, 

And-have-not-remcmbered     the-covenant-of     brothers.  l.i)b 

And-not      have-they-known      how-to-do-good, 

Those-who-store-up     violence     and-oppressiou     in-their-pnlaces.    3.10 

And-through-the-breaches     shall-they-go     each-woman     before-her, 
And-they-shall-be-cast     into-Harmon.  4.3 

Strikp-the-threshold     that-the-posts     may-shake, 

And-cutthem     on-the-head     all-of-them.  tt.ll) 

In  eacli  of  these  instances  the  text  is  corrupt :  thougli  the  first 
twii  ai-c  sdincwliat  clrar,  the  second  Iwo  arc  dubious  in  sense, 
ill  ^I'aiiimar,  and  in  form.  Anothi>r  inslance  where  synonymity 
may  bi'  present  but  where  the  .sense  is  doubtful  is  tlie  following: 
Because  he-pur.sued  with-the-sword  his-brothcr, 
And-destroyed     his-compassiou.  1.1  lb 

For  a  full  discussion  of  this  distich  see  below  on  the  Doom  Song. 
A  corrupt  text  is  possibly  to  be  seen  here : 

Who-erush     the-head-of     the-poor     on-the-dust-of     tho-enrth 
And-the-way-of     the-humble     they-turn-aside.  2.7a 

By  the  onussiou  of  "on  the  dust  of  tlio  eai-th"  tlie  form  liecomes 
(llarprr,  p.  f.O): 


1/2 


[170], 


I'ltnilUlisiii  in  .l»/i(),s"  ll'i 

OthiT  iiistimws  i>{  iloul)iriil  synthetic  (•cmplots  an-  si-at- 
tcrttl  lliri>ii';li(iiit  this  study,  and  are  found  tabulated  lulow. 

•'THAT  SAY,"   OH   QeoTATUINAl.   OOflM.F.TS 

Amos  eoiitaiiis  several  eoujilets  wherein  one  sticlios  is  lenjith- 
iMied  by  the  use  of  the  apparent  eiiuivalent  in  Hebrew  for 
quotation  nnirks.  namely,  a  forni  of  the  word  "say,"  wliieli  is 
found  standing;  usually  at  the  head  of  the  stiehos  as  a  partieiple, 
sometimes  in  the  midtlle  as  an  infinitive.  This  creates  a  s|)eeial 
ehuss  of  parallelism,  for  it  will  be  observed  that  the  synonymity 
between  the  stiehoi  is  not  cli>se,  sinee  the  (juotation  usually  adds 
a  new  thought  to  the  complex. 

Hoar-tliis  word,     yc-kinoof     Baslinii, 

Wlio-aro    (dwoU)      in-thc-niomituin-of -Samaria, 

Thatoppress     tlic-poor, 

Tliat-i-riiiili     the-neoily, 

Tliatsav     untothcirlonls:     Hriiij;.     tliat     wi'iiiavilriiik.  -1.1 


There  are  indications  of  symmetry  here,  though  the  vei-se  ap- 
proaches closely  to  pnxse ;  u  relative  '"slur  in  the  second  stiehos 
complicates  the  vei-se;  moreover  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  open- 
ing prophetic  phra.se  "Hear  this  word"  deserves  to  be  included 
in  the  scheme  as  nmjor  words,  receiving  toiud  accents.  Par- 
allelism exists  here  between  the  terms  e  f  ami  e'  f.  The 
participial  construction  which  Amos  employs  in  the  last  three 
stiehoi  is  a  favorite  with  him  (first  stiehos:  2.7;  5.7,  8,  9,  12,  18; 
6.1,  :{.  4.  .'i.  6;  S.14;  .second  sticlio.s.  3.10,  12;  Th-l)  ;  h.-re  it  knits 
the  teniis  together  throughout  the  entire  verse.  Another 
schematic  arrangement  for  this  vei-se  whereby  two  couplets  are 
prcKlueed  which  are  rhythmically  but  not  correspondent iaily 
-symmetrical,  would  be : 


t       g       r      «■ 

b         i  j         k 


[171   1 


J'draUvlisiii  III  Amos 


Vho-rejoicc      i 

n-that-ivl 

liich-is-not, 

Vho-say:     By- 

our-oivu 

streugth     liavc 

^we-not-takeu 

for-ourselves 

horus? 

6.13 

In  addition  to  the  fact  that  M'-dm'rlm,  "that  say,"  serves  to 
lengthen  the  stichos,  there  is  no  correspondence  between  the 
terms,  though  the  thought  is  in  general  the  same  in  both  stichoi. 
The  scheme  mins: 


By-the-sword     sliall-die     all-the-sinners-of     my-people, 
Who-say:Not-shaU-touch     or-befall     us     disaster.  9.10 

Doubt  on  tlie  validity  of  this  text  exists  because  of  the  length 
of  the  second  stichos  and  the  presence  of  two  verbs  therein 
denoting  the  same  thought.  No  correspondence  of  terms  exists, 
the  second  stichos  adding  to  the  first  a  characterization,  from 
their  own  lips,  of  those  who  will  die.  The  schematic  ai'range- 
ment  is  : 

abed 

f        g2      h        i 


But-ye-niade-drink     tlie-Nazirites     wine, 

And-the-prophets     ye-c-ommanded      (saying)  :Do-not-prophcsy. 


Or 


In  tlie  light  of  verse  11,  whicli  deals  with  the  same  thought  in 
an  iuversed  couplet,  it  is  clear  that  parallelism  is  intended  here. 
Doubt  attaches,  however,  to  the  text,  and  Harper  (p.  54)  sug- 
gests that  the  words  Wmor  ' al-tinndhh<"u  could  be  omitted  as 
a  gloss,  thus  restoring  the  line  to  a  length  commensurate  with 
the  first  stichos.  In  tlie  face  of  other  examples  where  the  le'mor 
construction  is  used,  this  seems  plausible.  Harper's  arrange- 
ment becomes : 

a        b        c 
V        a' 

But-ye-madc-drink      the-Na/.irites     ivine, 

And-on-tlie-propliets      ycdaid-proliibition. 


[  1'2  ] 


Pttrallilism  in  Amos  117 

It  may  be  eoiu'liuliMl  with  ri-rtTciicf  to  tin-  "wlio  say  "  clauses: 
fitliiT  tlu'  tfrin  nvfivi's  a  full  word  accent  as  in  4.1.  where 
ltd 'oiif^  roth  is  used  with  a  niodifyiii';  noun  Ui-'Ulhoiu'lii  niAhmxtih 
this  latter  terui  may  not  be  t;cnuine;  or  the  plirasi-  'whosay" 
in  its  various  forms  should  not  be  reckoned  as  a  major  word 
ill  the  sehemati/.ation,  worthy  of  a  full  tone,  but  more  like  the 
((notation  marks  in  Kufjlish.  The  majority  of  cases  seem  to 
fuv(U-  the  second  hypothesis.  thou<;h  each  casi-  must  be  jud;red 
on  its  own  merit. 

•'IX    oKI>KK    THAT,"    OR    CONJl'XCTIVAI.    COl'PI.ETS 

A  st-ries  of  conjunctival  clauses  whicli  are  introduced  either 
by  the  conjunction  I'nui'an  or  the  relative  '"slur  atTect  the 
parallelism,  which  by  the  absence  of  correspoudenee  is  almost 
eliminated.  The  I'liui'nit,  "in  order  that."  clauses  contain  in 
the  second  stichos.  at  the  head  of  wliieh  the  coujunetioii  usually 
stands,  a  new  thousrht  which  is  the  result  or  the  purpose  of  the 
event  or  act  mentioned  in  the  first. 

Borau<H>     ttioy-rippoilup     tlu>i)rp;;iiantwi)ini'ii-€if     Oilmil, 
Inonler-to    pnlnrf;(<     tlioir-l)or(lor.  1.13b 

No  eorrespondenee  of  the  terms  exists  here;  the  text  is  dubious; 

there  is  a  lum-siqititur  iu  the  idea.s  of  the  couplet;  in  a  plottin<; 

■  f  the  text,  the  conjunction  I'tiui'an  receives  a  full  word  accent. 
An<l-n-man     nml-lii.t  fnthrr      go      untotlipxaiiir-mnicl, 
In-onler-to     profano     myholy     imnu>.  2.7I> 

Atrain  the  text  is  dubious;  the  lines  are  lonper  than  usual; 
Harper  emends  to  read:  "And-a-man  and-his-judpe  deal 
aceordinp-fo-apre<'minf.'"  The  l<iij,'th  of  the  eou|>bt  is  seen  in 
the  si'home: 

n2       b         <• 
.1         <-         f2 
Sc<>k  eoo<l     dikI  tiot-pvil, 
In-orili-r  that     ypmaylivo.  .'i.Hn 

riie  sens*'  is  clear,  but  the  S4'hematie  arranpement  is  duliious. 
Tins  line  is  followeil  by  an  appan-ntly  loiip  prose  line,  wherein 
the  word  ktt-'"shir  (x-eurs.  Eithir  it  is  pos.Hible  to  npard  tliis 
verse  ns  n  t>rief  ilistieh,  n  text  for  the  diseu.s.sion  that  follows; 
or  the  line  niny  Ix'  prttuix'd  with  the  next  loin;  prophetic  lino, 

[173  1 


118  raralUIism  in  Amos 

making  thus  two  loug  lines;  or  as  Harper  suggests,  they  may 
form  a  ((uatrain  similar  to  alternate  parallelism: 
Seek-good     and  not-evil, 

In-order-that     ye-may-live, 
Tliat-so-may-be     Yahwe-God-of-Hosts     with  you, 
As-ye-liave     saiil. 

But  this  is  doubtful,  and  must  lie  accepted  with  reservation, 
althdugh  it  nuist  he  noted  that  tins  (puitrain  is  followed  hy 
another  (verse  15)  of  similar  foi-nuition. 

Iii-oi'der-that      they-may-possess      the-remnaut-of      Eiloiii, 
And-all-the-nations     over-whicli     is-called     my-name.  9.12 

Here  le-ma' an  occurs  at  the  head  of  the  entire  couplet  in  the 
first  stiehos;  moreover  the  presence  of  '"sher  in  the  second 
stiehos  complicates  the  form.  The  lines  are  long,  and  approach 
close  to  near-prose;  unless  it  occurred  in  the  midst  of  genuine 
parallelism,  it  would  be  classified  without  hesitation  as  prose. 
The  text  is  doubtful,  and  seeuLs  to  he  part  of  a  post-Amosian 
insertion.  The  schematic  arrangement  is  difficult ;  slight  corre- 
spondence may  be  present  between  the  words  "Edom"'  and 
"nations'": 

n        h        (_•        d 

d'        e         f         g 

It  may  be  concluded  with  reference  to  the  Jf-m-a'an  clauses 
that  the  use  of  the  conjunction  is  accompanied  by  a  breakdown 
of  synonymous  parallelism ;  correspondence  between  terms  is 
missing;  the  lines  are  usually  extra  long,  and  approximate 
closel.y  near-prose.      Moreover  the  text  is  usually  doubtful. 

RELATIVE   COUPLETS 

The  '"s/i  pr-relative  clauses  may  be  divided  into  several  cate- 
gories. The  first  usage  is  in  couplets  where  the  relative  does 
not  affect  the  regularity  of  the  parallelism,  as  in  2.9;  auotlier 
usage  is  in  a  mixtvire  of  prose  and  paralleli.sm,  as  in  4.1,  where 
the  relative  may  affect  the  parallelism,  and  yet,  depending  upon 
the  construction  of  tlie  passage,  may  fall  in  witli  the  parallelistie 
arrangement.  It  may  be  used  merely  as  a  relative  in  sheer 
prose,  as  in   1.1,  the  superseri|ition ;   but   its  nuiin   usage  is  in 

[174] 


coupli'ts  wluTo  there  are  tnu-i's  of  paralli'lism  ilistmlicd  Imw- 
I'Vir  l)y  the  use  of  tlie  relative. 

Aniltheroled-tlii'ni-nstrny     thoir-lii's, 

Aftorwiiioh     tlicrewnlkoil     tlioir-fiitlicrs.  2.4 

The  text  here  is  dubious ;  no  eorresi)oudeuee  of  terms  is  present ; 
•jraninuir  and  .si-nse  are  confused.  This  couiih't  nuikes  possible 
however  a  ditferentiation  between  essential  and  non-essential 
r'lative  elauses.  The  presence  of  the  suffix  "their"  attached 
to  "lies"  shows  that  the  relative  clause  lierc  is  iion-e.s.sential. 
An  essential  modifier,  i.e.  one  which  cannot  be  logically  omitted, 
cannot  be  a  parallel  logically;  a  non-essential  is  somewhat  of  the 
nature  of  a  synonym,  and  hence  may  be  regarded  a.s  a  parallel. 
The  same  nuiy  be  saiil  in  some  measure  of  the  hri-'nin'rhn  clau.ses 
aln-ady  discussed;  in  the  same  way  that  the  second  stichos  was 
an  additional  characterization,  not  im])erative  to  complete  the 
meaning  of  the  first  stichos,  but  employed  to  till  out  the  couplet 
structure,  so  the  relative  is  used  here  an<l  on  occasion  elsewhere. 

Olio     pioco     wnsrHiiii'il-tipoii, 

Anii-tl>c-]>ioec     wliori-on     it-rniiietl-iiot     withorcd.  4." 

The  relative  occurs  in  the  middle  of  the  second  stichos,  and 
though  it  lengthens  it,  is  not  responsible  for  the  luicertain 
character  of  the  couplet,  for  the  style  is  tame;  this  stanza  of 
the  Grief  Song  has  a  superabundance  of  stichoi;  this  distich  is 
surroundetl  by  another  in  weak  parallelism,  verging  on  bald 
repetitir)n,  and  by  a  long  and  dubious  pro.se  line. 

In  .").2l).  the  relative  is  u.sed  in  a  conventional  phrase,  "which 
ye  made  for  yourselves";  it  may  be  part  of  a  triiilet;  the  text 
also  is  doubtful;  a  similar  use  of  '>'shir  has  been  noted  in  9.12 ; 
again  in  9.15,  the  words  "which  I  have  given  to  them"'  are  used 
as  a  conventional  phra.se  with  reference  to  the  "laud";  the 
words  .seem  to  be  "tacked-on"  as  it  were.  On  several  occasions 
it  is  fouml  tliat  at  the  end  of  a  chapter  or  of  a  projihetic  book 
similar  conventional  combinations  are  attached.  In  :{.l,  the 
relative  is  used  in  a  conventional,  introductory  prophetic  phrase 
with  no  pnrnllelism,  apparently  no  rhythmical  principle;  tiie 
lines  are  long  and  the  verse  savors  of  the  historical  traditional 
|>hrases  u.sed  by  the  prophets  at  the  head  of  their  deiuineiations. 


[>7 


120  Puralhlisiii  in  Amos 

KA  'asher  or  simile  couplets 
The  k(i-'"shir  couplets  also  present  varieties  of  usage.  It 
has  been  seen  that  in  3.12  and  5.19,  two  couplets  of  similar  struc- 
ture, the  ka-'"sher  stands  at  the  head  of  the  couplets  and  does 
not  interfere  with  the  parallelism;  in  3.12  it  is  a  correlative 
of  l-i'ii,  "thus,""  ill  the  second  sticlios,  and  in  .').19  likewise  by 
implication.  In  5.14,  it  is  used  in  a  conventional  prophetic 
near-prose  line,  wlicrein  no  simile  and  hence  no  parallelism  are 
present;  the  wmd  hi'n  is  used  iu  conjunction  with  ka-^°shci-  in 
this  line  also,  hut  no  simile  is  involved  as  iu  the  other  examples. 
In  2.13,  ka^'cshcr  oeciu's  in  the  second  stichos  of  an  extremely 
doubtful  couplet.  The  text  is  apparently  corrupt ;  various 
suggestions  for  its  emendation  have  been  made,  among  them  one 
by  Harper  (p.  60),  but  the  supposed  metrical  principle  which 
he  employs  is  unjustifialile  and  violates  even  the  elements  of 
parallelism  preserved  in  the  coui>let.  As  it  stands  the  verse 
by  reasons  of  its  imperfections  approaches  uear-prose.  The 
brevity  of  the  Jewish  Translation  does  not  bring  out  the  char- 
acter of  the  Hebrew  text  which  is  long  and  overbalanced : 

Beliold,  I  will  make  it  creak  under  you. 

As  a  cart  creaketh  that  is  full  of  sheaves. 

The  first  stichos  of  the  couplet  appears  to  be  genuine;  a  com- 
pression of  the  second  is  necessary  to  give  a  genuine  couplet. 

In  9.9  an  almost  identical  structure  and  difBcultj'  are  pres- 
ent;  in  fact,  were  the  two  passages  combined,  they  would  make 
a  mutually  supplementary  picture,  since  both  deal  with  images 
of  threshing.  As  in  the  previous  instance,  the  ka-'osher  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  second  stichos,  making  it  almost  seem  that 
the  presence  of  this  conjunction  in  the  second  half  of  a  couplet 
is  in  danger  of  obscuring  the  parallelism  and  the  text.  In  9.9, 
however,  unlike  the  other  instance,  the  kn-'"shrr  section  may 
be  formed  into  two  stichoi : 

And-I-will-sift     amoug-all-the-natious     tliohouso-(if     Israel, 

Just-as-one-shakes     with-a-sieve, 
But-not-shall-fall     one-kernel     to-the-ground. 

Again  a  disturbance  in  parallelism  is  accompanied  by  the  pres- 
ence of  the  conjunction,  and  by  a  dubious  sense. 

[176] 


I'antltilistn  in  Aiiias  121 

A  typ.-  of  i-oiist ruction  wliicli  plays  a  ivlc  in  .lislnrlicl 
paralli'lisni  is  found  in  Amos  4.11;  it  appears  to  lie  a  lonjj: 
continuous  prost'  lint';  the  Jewish  Translation  ohseures  the 
inec|ualily  in  the  len-rth  of  the  two  parts  into  whi.'h  it  divides 
the  line,  by  translatinjr : 

I  liave-oviTtlirown     soiiu'-of-vou, 

A.stiotl     overthrow     So.loiii  aii.l(i<>morr.ili, 

wliieh  in  the  Hebrew  is: 
huiihakhtt  bhiikhrm 
k''miihi>i'kath  '''lohim  elhS'dhom  u""-('//i-'"mi'r/i. 

Mere  tlie  word  bCt-khnn  is  jjiven  a  full  word  aeeent  ;  Harper 
and  others  lielievc  that  soiuethiiif:  has  fallen  out  of  the  text, 
and  so  intlieate  in  their  arran-renients.  This  phrase  eoneerninfj 
the  destruction  of  Sodom  and  liomorrali  (rives  difWeulty  throufrii- 
out  the  prophetic  books;  it  either  creates  a  species  of  continuous, 
rhythmical  parallelism,  near-prose  in  eharaeter.  or  it  breaks 
ili>wn  apparently  jrood  jiarallelism.  Only  rarely  does  it  form 
a  part  of  jfood  parallelism.  It  is  found  in  jjrose  in  Dent.  29.22; 
it  has  no  correspondin(?  stichos  but  is  attached  to  the  end  of  a 
couplet  in  Is.  I:i.l9;  in  .Tor.  49.18  it  stands  at  the  head  of  a 
vei-se  the  end  of  which  is  a  trood  synonymous  couiilet ;  so  also 
in  .ler.  r)().4().  On  several  occasions  the  words  "Sodom"  and 
■■  Gomorrah ■'  are  used  ju;  correspondinjr  terms  in  jiaralhl 
couplets  (cf.  Zejih.  2.9;  Is.  1.9;  .ler.  2:5.14(.  The  phrase  of 
eomi)arison  in  Amos  is  not  u.sed  in  the  customary  style  of  j)ar- 
allelism,  thoufrh  it  mifjlit  be  firoupcd  with  the  kii-'"sher  type,  i.e., 
with  simile  parallelism;  or,  if  the  text  were  simply  "as  the 
overthrow  of  Smlom  and  (iomorrah,"  it  woid<l  be  similar  to  the 
phrase  "in  the  manner  of  Efrypt"  in  verse  1(1  (see  lulow,  on 
(irief  Sonjji.  Hut  as  it  staiuls  it  has  the  sound  of  a  conventional 
phra.se,  in.serted  without  regard  to  the  awkwardness  of  the  re- 
sulting context:  "1  [(lod)  have  overthrown  some  of  yon  as 
Ciod  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.'"  Indi-id.  in  piieral  it 
nuiy  be  concluded  that  the  Sodom-( iomorrah  plira.se  is  conven- 
tional-traditional and  historical,  and  stands  outside  the  couplet 
parallelism,  thouph  exceptions  of  course  exist. 


[177] 


Paralhlisin  in  Amos 


Triplets  and  Monostichs 


Important  in  a  determination  of  tlie  dubious  eases  of 
parallelism  in  Amos,  is  a  consideration  of  the  monostichs  and 
tristii-hs:  tliis  will  make  possible  a  decision  on  the  (piestion 
whetlier  isolated  sticluji  and  trijilet  formations  are  intentional 
or  accidental,  or  are  the  result  of  broken  and  man-ed  texts. 

The  various  single  stichoi  fall  within  several  categories. 
The  first  includes  those  which  betray  remnants  of  parallelism 
and  which  may  have  been  part  of  a  paralleli.stic  couplet,  e.g. 
1.3b,  6b,  both  of  which  are  treated  below  in  the  Doom  Song, 
2.1b,  and  1.5,  where  the  first  and  fourth  periods  show  that  a 
couplet  between  them  has  been  omitted  and  the  gap  filled  by 
the  substitution  of  a  good  couplet  taken  from  1.8  (see  below). 

The  stiehos  5.27  falls  within  a  class  of  lines  which  occur 
at  the  end  of  a  chapter  and  have  no  complementary  stichos.  It 
may  be  suggested  that  this  near-prose  line  may  serve  as  a 
rhythmical  counterpart  to  the  conventional  prophetical  phrase 
and  epithet  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  but  this  violates  the  \isual 
principle  that  the  introductory  and  closing  phi'ases  stand  out- 
side the  parallelism. 

A  third  class  of  single  lines  may  be  found  in  the  so-called 
"texts"  to  tlie  variiius  sermons  of  Amos.  4.12r  a]ipears  to 
lirlong  to  this  sjiciMcs,  though  it  occurs  with  two  roiiventional 
prophetic  phrases,  and  is  followed  by  a  doxology  which  appears 
to  be  an  inset  in  the  text.  In  5.4,  the  text  or  heading  may 
possibly  be  placed  in  i-)arallelism  with  the  next  stichos: 
Seek-iiie  ami-live, 
But-do-not-scek     Bethel. 

In  sujiiioi-t  of  this,  the  next  verse,  tia,  ajipears  to  have  a  text: 
'•Seek  the  Lord  and  live":  but  it  will  W  seen  in  a  discussion 
of  the  trii)let  in  vei'se  5  that  this  arrangement  is  not  good. 

This  leads  to  the  fourth  class  of  single  lines,  those  which 
are  attached  to  couplets,  or  are  a  part  of  triplets,  and  hence 
must  be  treated  with  reference  to  triplets.  It  has  already  been 
observed  in  the  discussion  on  3.3,  that  whereas  verses  4,  5.  6, 
and  8  liave  two  stichoi  in  alti'rnate  parallelism.  vers(^  3  has  but 

[178] 


runilUlisiii  in  Amus  123 

oin-;  lii'iicf  it  iiiiiy  In-  stati-il  that  t-ithiT  aimtlifr  sticlms  lias 
dropped  out,  or  tlu-  prt'sent  stii-lios  must  be  taken  as  tlu'  ln-ad 
of  tlir  striis  and  tlu'  kt-yiiotf.  Comparf  disfussir)n  on  \)A — I,  14. 
An  txaninlf  of  a  text  that  is  i-lear  but  iH-rluips  niisplacfd 
(IlarpiT,  p.  iS,  plai'os  it  aft»M-  vei-se  11)  is  found  in  li.l").  Here 
one  line  oeeui-s  followed  hy  two  short  ami  iiaraiiel  lines.  The 
sehenie  is: 

a        1.        I-        b'       .1 
e         b"       f 
c'        b" '     g 
Amll-will-sniito     tliohouso-of     wiiitrr     with  tln-liouso-of     summer, 
Auil-shnll-perisli     tlii>-lioiisp.s-of     ivorv, 
Atiiliilinll-bo-ilc»troyi>(l     houses     ninny. 

This  is  n  distiiu-t  type  of  strophe,  and  wlieii  tlie  pluiiomi  mom  is 
repeated  in  stanzaie  form,  complete  symmetry  results.  It  may 
be  observed  that  the  parallelism  between  thi'  two  short  lines  is 
unite  oxaet,  and  tho  parallelism  between  either  one  of  these 
and  the  longer  first  line  is  also  pood;  the  doubt  arises  through 
the  presence  of  two  stiehoi  parallel  to  tho  first. 

In  3.11,  despite  the  need  for  a  slifrht  textual  ehanjre  in  the 
tii-st  line,  an  apparently  good  triplet  is  present,  tlioujirh  the 
synonymity  between  the  terms  of  the  first,  and  those  of  the 
second  and  third  lines  is  not  dose  In  '■!.>>  the  first  stichos 
stands  somewhat  alom-,  aiul  .seems  to  need  a  complemi-nt.  thongrli 
the  use  of  the  participle,  as  well  as  a  thoufrht  similarity,  binds 
it  to  the  coupli-t.  In  Job  9.9  and  3S.31,  the  same  terms  are 
used  ami  eoujilets  are  present :  this  stichos  may  be  a  later  in.scr- 
tion  in  Amos  on  the  basis  of  tin-  Job  passajres.  It  is  danfrerous 
to  nuike  poo<l  parallelism  dependent  only  on  the  presem-e  of 
a  couplet  and  to  be  overscrupulous  in  ascribing  it  to  a  triplet; 
however,  it  is  well  as  here  to  examine  i'Vi'ry  tri])let  on  its  own 
merits. 

Trouble  arises  with  reference  to  r>.l(i.  17.  ^'erse  IT  has  a 
stichos  in  virtually  the  same  form  aixl  language  as  the  fii-st 
stiehfKs  in  the  couplet  at  the  head  of  vei-sc  10.  The  repetition 
of  the  word  iiiispulli,  and  the  fact  that  the  dominant  structure 
here  seems  to  be  the  couplet,  nnike  it  possible  either  that  some- 
thing has  dropped  out  in  verse  17  which  would  .serve  as  a  com- 

[179] 


124  ParaUclisin  in  Adios 

plement  to  the  doubtful  stichos,  or  that  it  is  a  later  insertion. 
The  triplet  formation  thus  appears  to  be  doubtful.  The  same 
question  attaches  to  the  third  stichos  in  5.18.  Harper  wishes 
to  regard  the  striking  second  stichos  to  the  first  couplet  as  an 
interpolation,  and  make  the  first  and  third  stichoi  the  genuine 
couplet,  but  Loehr  and  others  would  omit  the  third  as  an  inser- 
tion, basing  their  action  on  the  groiuid  that  it  is  derived  from 
5.20a.  In  favor  of  tlie  present  triplet  arrangement  it  may  be 
said  tliat  Amos  uses  the  third  stichos  as  a  climax  to  the  imme- 
diately preceding  remarks;  or  the  stichos  may  be  divided  into 
two  parallel  parts : 

It-is     darkness 

Aiul-not     light. 

This  is  doubtful  because  of  the  extreme  brevity  of  tlie  periods, 
and  the  frequent  use  of  a  line  in  the  scheme  a  b  b'.  Whatever 
decision  be  championed  with  reference  to  the  text,  it  is  certain 
that  the  triplet  cannot  pass  by  entirely  unquestioned. 

Doul>t  is  present  once  more  in  5.22.  Harper  wrouglj-  regards 
the  second  stichos  of  the  couplet  as  an  interpolation;  it  is  far 
more  plausible  to  regard  merely  u-)iiin''xdthekhcm,  "and  your 
meat-oft'erings, "  as  a  gloss  explaining  (see  Brown-Driver-Bi-iggs, 
p.  585)  the  striking  phrase  in  5.21,  second  stichos:  'W''-ld'  'dria^, 
"and  I  will  not  smell  in  your  solemn  assemblies." 

Doubt  again  follows  the  triplet  in  (i.(;.  The  first  two  stiehoi 
form  ail  admirable  synonymous  coiqilet.  Other  investigators 
have  made  various  suggestions  as  to  the  replacement  of  the 
third  stielios.  wliieli  seems  to  be  in  good  proi^hetic  language, 
contains  three  terms,  but  has  no  complement.  Wliatever  may 
be  its  correct  position,  it  appears  certain  that  the  triplet  forma- 
tion here  is  not  original.  In  6.8,  the  fir.st  two  stichoi  form  a 
good  parallelistic  couplet,  but  the  stichos  "and  I  will  shut  \ip 
the  city  and  its  inhabitants,"  seems  to  be  an  isolated  stichos, 
the  remnant  of  a  eoiijilet,  or  inserted  by  a  later  commentator 
because  the  verb  is  in  the  same  person  as  the  verbs  of  the 
couplet,  and  the  noun  corresponds  to  "palaces"  in  the  second 
stichos  of  the  couplet.  Doubt  further  attaches  to  the  validity 
of  the  stichos  because  immediately  following  it  is  a  long  prose 


[180; 


I'drnllitism  iti  Aitnn:  \'2'> 

IHirtioii  fl.'urly  out  of  plai-c  in  tli.'  t.-xt.  If  aiiotliiT  stirlios  lie 
iK'inaiHlril  to  ronii  a  i-uupl.t.  piTliaps  .'..I'T  iiii^'lit  sirv<>.  (Cf. 
l.G,  10.) 

Ni'ithiT  7.1)  nor  7.17  is  five  from  qinstioii.  Eai-li  lias  an 
isolatocl  stk'lios  at  tin-  tMul  of  tlio  verse:  moreover  in  7.11  Amos 
is  (pioteil  as  siiying  : 

By-tlie-sworJ     sliall-ilio     Jeroboam, 

ADtl-Isruel     sliallsurely     gointocxilc     from-itslaiul. 

If  the  two  isolated  stielini  in  7.9  anil  17  are  l)rouj;lit  to<;;etlier, 
this  eoiipltt  eiisui's.  as  the  ])ropheey  whieli  Amos  is  said  here  to 
attrilnite  to  (Jod: 

AiuI-I-sliall-rise     against-tlio-houso-of     Jeroboam     witlitbeswonl, 
And-I-srael      sliall-siiroly      go-into  oxilc      fromita-laml. 

As  the  te.xt  now  stands  oidy  one-lialf  of  Amos'  prophecy  in 
verso  11  is  vindicated:  this  arranp;cnient  provides  for  both 
parts,  and  disi)oses  of  the  isolated  stichoi.  This  is  another  of 
many  instances  where  siiiijiosed  triplets  in  reality  are  eoiipiets 
plus  a  stiehos  out  of  place. 

In  !S.6  a  third  line  follows  a  good  synonymous  couplet  with 
which  it  appears  to  have  no  firammatical  or  lojrieal  connection. 
Elither  this  stiehos  may  be  rejected,  or  it  may  he  taken  \ip  into 
the  second  stiehos  of  the  first  couplet  in  verse  .').  This  latter 
pi>ssil)ility  is  nejrated.  however,  liy  the  fact  that  nashbir  is 
already  used  there;  the  words  in  veiNe  C  may  tlu-refore  he  a 
variant  reading. 

In  9.1  a  possible  triplet  is  obscured  by  the  apparent  corrup- 
tion of  the  text;  the  isolated  stiehos  •'and-their-residue  with- 
the-sword  will-I-.slay"  is  in  Amos'  style  and  seems  to  deserve 
a  place  in  the  text  as  a  survival  of  a  good  couplet. 

In  r>.."j  a  couplet  with  a  reference  to  Hethel  antl  to  Gilgal 
is  followed  by  a  stiehos  containing  mention  of  Beei-sheha.  A 
couplet  succeeds  this  group  wherein  (Jilgal  and  Hethel  are  men- 
tioned, though  a  play  upon  Reersheba  is  conspieuo\is  by  its 
absence.  The  suggestion  that  the  first  stiehos  of  the  first  couplet 
a-H  stated  abovi-  be  taken  with  the  "text  "  in  verse  4  is  inde- 
fensible becau.se  of  the  combination  of  stii-hoi  in  the  .second 
couplet    of   verse    ."J.       Either    Haumann's    suggestion    that    the 


[  181 


126  raralldism  in  Amos 

Beersheba  stichos  be  omitted  must  be  accepted  on  the  gTound 
that  in  4.4  only  Gilgal  and  Bethel  are  mentioned,  while  8.14 
refers  to  Dan  and  Beersheba  without  the  other  two ;  or  it  is 
necessary  to  add  a  stichos  to  5b,  punning  upon  the  name  of 
Beersheba.  It  is  easier  and  more  plausible  to  omit  the  trouble- 
some stichos  as  an  interpolation. 

In  6.1-2  similar  difficulties  are  encountered.  A  good  couplet 
heads  verse  1 ;  a  doubtful  distich  follows ;  in  verse  2,  three 
stichoi  apparently  in  triplet  formation  are  present ;  then  follows 
a  final  couplet  in  verse  2,  which  must  be  regarded  as  part  of  this 
strophe.  Various  ways  of  reading  these  verses  may  be  sug- 
gested. Harper  (p.  141  fH.)  regards  the  second  distich  of 
verse  1  as  a  good  ci)U])lrt  and  the  three  stichoi  of  verse  2  as  a 
good  triplet,  but  he  omits  the  second  couplet  in  verse  2 :  his 
rendering  of  the  second  couplet  in  verse  1  is : 
Wlio  specify  themselves  the  chief  of  the  nations, 
And  make  a  prey  for  themselves  of  the  house  of  Israel. 

The  Jewish  Translation  offers  for  this  couplet  the  following 
conventional  and  traditional  rendition  which  clings  to  the  pres- 
ent text  but  solves  none  of  its  difficulties : 

The  notable  men  of  the  first  of  the  nations, 

To  whom  the  lioiise  of  Israel  come. 

The  schematization  of  the  couplet  together  with  the  following 
triplet  becomes  then  : 


The  following  suggcstidiis  may  now  lie  nft'orvd.  Either  the 
IhiIc  i.f  till'  lil'st  stielios,  ii'qfihhf  rfshllh  h,t,i-;/,l,inH .  sIkuiUI  1)c 
uittcd;  this  wiiuld  jilacc  tlif  next  stichos  at  the  head  of  a 
iiatfain,  rliaiigiiig  fi-hhil'fi  into  ho'u,  an  imperative;  or  the 
niiliinaticiH  of  consonants  from  iiCqubhe  and  the  next  word 
'sliUI).  (j-h-r.  suggests  the  possibility  <if  the  woi-d  qh-'bhu, 
draw  Jifar, ■"  to  be  parallel  to  bo'u.  For  the  theme  of  the 
iiiplet  and  of  the  text  down  to  verse  3  appears  to  be:  Let  Israel 


[182] 


I'anilltlisin  in  Amos  127 

approiu'li  till'  iH'i^rlilx'iirintr  iMHiiitrics  and  eiiiii|)ari'  tlu'ir  lands, 
tlu'  lii-st  of  the  nations,  with  tliosi-  of  Israel.  God's  (lui-stion 
tlifii  at  tlif  fiiil  of  vciNf  2  in  the  coiiplft  seems  entirely  justi- 
fiable; the  worils  htin-tji'it/hn  in  vei-se  1  seem  to  antieipate  the 
nations  nientioneil  in  verse  2.  The  seiiematization  fii-st  sut,'^ested 
in  this  puratrraph  then  heeomes : 

a        1.       !• 

a'        .1         a' ' 


The  seeoiid  sujrjrestion  ealls  for  the  seiiematization: 
a        1)        r 
a'       .1        c 

a"       f         a" ' 

a""    1-2 

a ("■2 

the  couplet  beinj; : 

Ajiproai'li     the  lirstof     tlii-iiatioiis, 
Aiiiloonu'-totlieni,     olillouse-of     Israel. 

A  final  sujigrestion  is  that  in  the  second  coui)Iet  of  verse  I  a 
stiehos  has  fallen  out  parallel  to  the  first  stichos.  and  that  the 
.second  stichos  should  fro  with  the  triplet  in  verse  2.  to  form  a 
<|uatniin,  tluis: 

tlio  first  of  tlic  nations, 


Come     totlieni,     olillou.sedf     Israel, 
I'ass-ovor    toCalneli     anilsoe, 
And'go     thence     toIIaniatli-Rahbali, 
Anil-go-down     toGatliof -the- Philistines. 

The  scheniatizatinn  thus  becomes: 
a        b        c 


There  are  a  few  special  trijilet  formations  in  Atuns  where 
the  usual  periodic  character  of  each  stichos  i.s  niissinp.  and  where 
each  unit  is  a  part  of  a  larger  wlinlo. 

[  183  1 


128  ramUcUsm  in  Amos 

Assemble  on-the-inountain-of  Samaria, 
Ami-behold  the-many  tumults  therein, 
Aml-the-oppressions     in-her-midst.  3.9b 

Harper  suggests  that  the  third  period  be  omitted  as  a  gloss 
not  only  because  it  affects  the  "measure  of  the  line"  but  is 
not  clear  grammatieally  and  does  not  correspond  well  with 
"tumults."'  But  this  suggestion  violates  an  almost  infallible 
law  tluit  where  a  couplet  or  triplet  sliows  good  parallelism,  it 
should  not  be  broken  up.  It  may  bi-  that  citln-r  '"shilqhii  or 
m^humfith  needs  emendation.  There  is  a  curious  repetition  of 
"palaces"  in  9a,  however;  moreover,  the  preposition  'al  is  used 
in  two  different  senses;  in  the  first  couplet  hash-mV  ft  'al  means 
"to  summon  to"  or  "against"  (cf.  Jer.  51.27)  ;  in  the  trij^let, 
hr'ils'phri  'III  means  "to  assemble  on  top  of."  Thus  the  fault 
seems  to  lie  in  the  first  couplet  in  verse  9.  The  schematic 
arrangement  is  either: 


a        b2 

a'        c2       d 

Another  dubious  example  is  found  in  5.26: 

But-uow-ye-lift-up     the-shriue-of     your-king 

And-the-image-of     your-images, 

The-star-of  your-God  whieh-ye-have-made  for-yourselves. 
The  Jewish  Translation  substitutes  "Siecuth"  for  "shrine" 
and  "('liiun'"  for  "image,"  taking  the  Hebrew  as  proper 
names.  The  conventional  '^'shrr  '"slthem  Iftkhrm,  "which  ye 
made  for  yourselves,"  mars  the  text,  even  though  various 
phrases  here  be  omitted  in  order  to  make  two  lines  of  fairly 
equal  length ;  tlnis,  Harper  suggests : 

But-now-ye-lift-up     the-shrine-of     your-king, 

And-the-image-of     your-God     which-ye-have-made     for-yourselves. 

Whatever  be  the  determination  and  exact  rendition  of  this 
passage,  it  is  evident  once  more  that  the  supposed  triplet  cannot 
pass  unchallenged. 

In   9.7   an  apparently  near-prose   (|uatrastich    or   tristich    is 
present,  after  the  iiitei-fering  ii'''rnii   '"illininli  is  omitted; 

[184] 


Arc-not     likt'-tlic-Cushitos     yi>     toiiio,     oli-Soii»-of- Israel, 
Diilnot-Israel      IbriiiR-up      from-tlii'-liiiiil  nf      H;;y|it, 
Anil-thp-Pliilistiups     from  t'liplitor, 
And-Edom     from-Kir. 

Tlif  first  two  lines  an'  allifil  pi-rhaps  li_\  tin'  ailiniiy  nt  thim^lit, 
ami  oxtenially  by  the  use  of  the  same  iiitroduetorv  interrofrative 
h"l('i',  "not,"  and  the  use  of  tlie  term  Yisn'i'i'l  in  botii  stiehoi. 
It  may  be  asked  wliethor  the  two  end  periods  should  not  be 
eoinbined  into  one  stiehos,  thus  jrivinc  a  triplet  instead  of  one 
loufj  rhytinnieally  parallel  eouplet  and  one  semi-indopendent 
couplet  in  close  parallelism.  One  notes  that  this  loni;  near-jirose 
passajro  deals  with  traditional  historic  material.  The  schematic 
arrangement  can  be  cither 


e  g     c  K 

It  may  be  conchuled  with  reference  to  triplets,  therefore, 
that  the  bona  fide  triplet  combination  in  Amos  is  rare:  frc- 
((uently  tlie  text  of  the  supposed  triplet  is  corrupt  or  dubious; 
unless  the  tristich  .shows  perfeetion  of  form  and  sense,  it  is 
necessary  to  invosti<»ate  carefully  Ijcfore  it  is  pronounced  jren- 
uine.  Each  triplet  must  be  weighed  on  its  own  merits,  and 
none  should  ho  accepted  without  aiudysis  merely  because  it  is 
known  that  triplct.s  do  exist  elsewhere  in  prophetical  literature. 

COSVF.NTIONAI.    HiSTORIC.M.    PROPnETIC    PlIK.VSES 

The  prophets  employ  ci-rtain  typical  projihetic  phrases  whicii 
nuiy  have  been  part  of  the  stock  in  trade  of  the  schools  and 
even  of  the  independent  prophets.  Most  of  these  lines  are 
sinple  stiehoi;  they  have  a  traditioinil  flavor  and  hark  back 
oftentimes  to  the  historical  events  deeply  rooted  in  the  past 
of  the  ppople.  Some  of  them  are  mere  ejacidations,  inserted 
apparently  without  rule  or  rea.son ;  .sometimes  however  they 
ser^•e  n.s  a  climax,  sonietimes  a.s  emphasis  for  a  special  point. 

f  183] 


130  ParaUfUsiii  in  Amos 

2.11b  is  au  ejaculation,  apparently  out  of  place  in  its  present 
location  between  two  couplets  which  reflect  phases  of  the  same 
thought ;  4.5b  is  also  an  ejaculation  which  may  serve  to  end  a 
series  of  couplets ;  it  stands  outside  the  parallelism  as  an  isolated 
stichos.  5.14b  and  15b  are  long  and  prosaic;  they  may  be 
regarded  either  as  isolated  stichoi,  may  be  combined  to  form  a 
distich,  or  may  be  part  of  a  stanzaic  arrangement.  5.17  falls 
somewhat  outside  this  category,  for  it  has  not  a  traditional 
flavor;  it  seems  to  be  an  isolated  stichos,  the  remnant  of  a  re- 
frain, or  the  end  to  a  series  of  couplets;  it  may  be  taken  with 
the  preceding  single  stichos  to  form  a  distich,  but  no  synonpnitj' 
exists,  and  the  combination  is  doubtful. 

5.25  i.s  a  long  prosaic  verse  referring  to  the  sacrifice  of  offer- 
ings in  the  desert  period ;  it  is  clearly  not  parallelism,  and  seems 
to  have  little  place  in  the  text,  unless  it  have  some  bearing  on 
verse  26,  which  is  also  doubtful.  Why  the  prophet  should  sud- 
denly insert  this  line  is  unclear;  why  also  he  should  desert  the 
parallelistic  form  he  has  maintained  immediately  previous  over 
five  verses,  is  a  mystery.  It  serves  again  to  show  the  disjointed 
nature  of  the  Amos  text,  and  to  confirm  the  supposition  that 
only  a  few  scattered  sections  of  the  original  utterances  of  Amos 
have  been  preserved  and  pieced  together  in  their  extant  form. 

9.8b  affords  another  instance  of  the  manner  in  which  verses 
may  be  inserted.  It  is  almost  certain  that  the  line  "Save  that 
I  will  not  destroy  utterly  the  house  of  Jacob,  it  is  the  oracle  of 
Yahwe "  is  a  later  interpolation ;  it  is  in  entire  dissonance  with 
the  pi-eceding  material,  and  has  the  tone  of  a  later  period.  The 
same  applies  to  9.14a,  "And  I  will  bring  back  the  captivity  of 
my  people  Israel."  This  seems  to  be  part  of  the  patchwork 
text  interpolated  by  a  post-Exilic  editor. 

Several  of  these  conventional  prophetic  historical  phrases 
occur  not  only  as  single  isolated  stichoi,  but  also  as  couplets, 
or  triplets.  2.10  is  an  example  of  a  single  line  followed  in 
veree  11  by  a  couplet  in  good  parallelism,  while  vei-se  10  itself, 
historic  in  character,  appears  to  be  prosaic  in  style.  The  line 
divides  itself  into  two  parts;  llie  words  "to  possess  the  land  of 
the    Amorites""    attached    at    the    end    may    either    be    omitted. 


[18G: 


Piinill<  Usui  iti  Amos  131 

rt'inaiii  as  they  arc,  or  lio  pivcfdcil  l)y  u-ri-'''hliikhnii  hi'inn'i, 
••ami  1  l)rmi«rlit  ymi  liitlii-r,"  ^riviii-.'  tin-  verse  tliereliy  a  lri|)let 
fonnatioii   (Harper,  p.  r)4tVJ. 

Ami  yet      itwiiMl       wlio-broUKlit-.vou     upl'iom  thr  laiul  nt"  K^'vpt, 

Amilcil-you     in-tlie-wilileriii'ss     forty-years, 

(Aiiil'brouKht-you     hither)      to-possess     thc-lnmlof      the-Ainorite. 

This  verse  seems  (pnte  eleurly  in  the  t\vili)::lit  zone  between  prose 
and  poetry,  resembling;  larfrely  tlie  rhymed  pro.se  of  the  Arable. 
The  same  phenomenon  of  hm;,'  prosaie  lini's,  yet  witli  a  sliyrht 
traee  of  parallelism  in  the  n'petilion  of  tlu'  word  •///  in  each 
period,  is  notieeable  in  3.1 : 

Hear     this-word     which      the  I^onl      hath  spoken      against  you,     oh- 

ohildrou-of -Israel, 
Agaiust-the-wholc-faiiiily      that      I-brouglitoiit-offlielaiiiiof     E^jypt. 

Here  ajrain  is  a  referenei'  to  God's  withdrawal  of  the  Israelites 
from  the  land  of  Efjypt. 

An  approximation  to  the  saj'  is  noted  ajrain  in  3.2.  where 
the  periods  are  lon<r  and  reference  is  made  to  historical  data: 

Oiilyyoii     have-I-knon°ii     froni-nll-the-faiiiilie.s     of-tho  laiiil, 

Therefore     I-nill-visit     iipoii-you     allyour-sius. 

Here  as  in  other  conjunctival  clavi.ses.  the  second  stiehos  eon- 
tains  the  result  of  the  fact  mentioned  in  the  first.  There  is  a 
char  cut  division  between  the  two  periods,  thonjih  the  tei-seness 
of  most  of  Amos"  poetry  is  mi-ssinf;.  3.7.  which  has  already 
been  di.seus.sed,  seems  to  contain  a  customary  jirophetic  state- 
ment, used  perhaps  by  the  prophetic  frnilds  and  schools  and 
not  containinj;  strict  parallelism. 

3.14a,  discussed  above,  contains  a  eoui)let  similar  to  3.2,  but 
the  con-espondence  in  tenns  is  sliphtly  closer.  9.S  contains  two 
long  stiehoi  marked  by  slight  parallelism  and  yet  not  entirely 
correspondent.  This  distich  is  in  the  realm  of  near-prose  (as 
is  also  the  third  stiehos  which  is  clearly  a  later  insertion;  see 
above ) : 

Bohohl      the-eye.Hof      the  Lonl      are  uponthi.s-sirifiil-kiiiKiloiii, 
Aiiil-I-will-.lcstroy      it      from  oflf-the-faeo  of      the-enrth. 

The  first  stiehos  repeats  from  9.4  a  j)art  of  the  line:  "And  I  will 
place  mine  eyes  upon  them,  for  evil  and  not  for  good";  the 
scheiuatie  eliaraeter  of  the  distich  is  vague;  moreover  9.4  does 


132  Pamlhhsm  in  Amos 

not  appear  to  be  a  paralli-listic  distich,  nor  is  its  periodic  eliar- 
aeter  apparent. 

■1.12  contains  an  apparently  conventional  proplietic  phrase, 
complicated  by  the  presence  of  conjunctions  and  doubtful  in 
sense  and  position.  The  second  stichos  may  be  a  glo.ss  on  the 
first;  the  line  "Prepare  to  meet  thy  God,  Oh  Israel,"  may  be 
a  text  or  a  climactic  sentence,  and  may  serve  a.s  an  apodosis 
to  the  second  stichos.  5.1  is  a  long  prosaic  introductory  line, 
whereof  the  words  " qtnd.  Oh  House  of  Israel"  appear  to  make 
a  short  second  line  to  tlie  fii*st  long  line,  giving  a  species  of  qlnd 
construction;  or  this  second  part  may  be  in  correspondence  to 
the  phrase  "this  word  which  I  take  up  against  you."  If  any 
paralleli-sm  may  be  said  to  exist  here,  it  is  of  a  special  and 
uncertain  type.  In  8.7  the  first  line  is  a  conventional  phrase 
of  introduction,  the  second  either  a  prophetic  remark,  compli- 
cated also  by  the  presence  of  the  conjunction  'Im,  "if,"  or  an 
isolated  stichos  taken  from  an  original  couplet.  Xo  synonymity 
exists  between  the  two  periods;  it  is  doubtful  whether  they 
should  be  reckoned  together  as  one  distich. 

It  may  therefore  be  concluded  with  reference  to  the  list 
of  conventional  or  customary  prophetic  phrases  in  Amos,  that 
they  stand  outside  the  regular,  normal  parallelism ;  if  they  show 
any  di.stieli  character,  it  is  vague  and  dubious,  and  closely  allied 
to  near-prose;  in  a  few  instances  a  rhythmical  principle  may 
operate,  but  these  are  too  few  to  afford  insight  into  any  general 
laws. 

Prelude  and  Postlude  Pr«iphetic  Phrases 

The  numerous  introductory  and  closing  phrases,  formulas 
and  epithets  deserve  consideration  with  a  view  to  the  question 
wlietlier  they  stand  outside  tlie  parallelism  or  require  word 
accents  in  the  schematization  of  the  couplets.  Tlie  words  iray- 
yotiier,  lemor,  w'-Cimfru,  and  others  which  stand  at  the  head 
of  the  speeches  do  not  appear  to  receive  word  accents,  but  stand 
outside  the  confines  of  the  couplets  themselves;  this  applies  also 
to  the  longer  phrases:  "Thus  saith  the  Lord"  iised  at  the  head 
of  the  stanzas  in  the  Doom  Song,  and  with  variations  throughout 
the  book.     In  two  instances,  hashmi'il  in  :19  and  shiiWi'i  zoth 

[188] 


I'anillclism  in  Amos  133 

in  8.4.  iiitnuluctory  words  ivi-eivo  lu-wnts,  tlioufili  tin-  fii-st 
tliroiijrii  tlic  usr  of  tlif  proposition  '«/  licloiijis  to  aiiotlicr  t-iite- 
jroiy.  Till*  flosiii};  words,  H'''i'(>n  "(Ihihidl,  and  loiifrcr  plirases 
and  cpitlii'ts  api)lii'al)lo  to  (.iod,  '"tloiuii  sh'mo,  '"domii  <,'bhri'dth 
sh' iiio,  and  others,  also  a))iu'ar,  to  stand  ontsido  tlie  |>aralifiisni. 
Tlic  plirascs  in  the  |)nisc-po('tic'  narrativi-  in  fliaptfr  7  will 
rffi'ivc  spci'ial  tn-atnunt  below.  On  occa-sion  as  in  S.l)  ami  11. 
tiiou>jli  I'Vfu  tlu'.si-  two  cast's  arc  doubtful,  the  i)hrasts  sccin  to 
fall  into  two  parts,  riiytliinically  c(|ual. 

It  may  lie  concluded  tlien  that  in  the  preat  majority  of  cases, 
these  jihrases  play  almost  the  same  part  as  (piotation  marks  in 
Ensrlish;  they  stantl  beyond  the  territory  of  parallelistic  struc- 
ture, i.e.,  they  arc  not  to  be  included  as  part  of  the  distichs,  and 
hence  stand  in  a  separate  rhetorical  catef.'ory. 

STKOl'HIC  FOKM.VTIONS 

Amos  contains  several  special  strophic  formations  which 
demand  separate  treatment.  These  embrace  the  Doom  Son<r  in 
eliapters  1  and  2,  the  Grief  Sonfr  in  4.6-11,  the  fii-st  series  of 
Visions  in  7.1-6,  the  second  series  of  Visions  in  7.7-!)  and  S.1-8, 
and  the  prose-poetic  narrative  in  7.10-17.  The  Doom  Siuil:  will 
l)e  the  subject  of  special  stud.v  below. 
Grief  So.no 

The  (.irief  Sonjr  may  be  fii-st  considercil.  It  may  be  decided 
that  stanzjLs  arc  pre.sent  in  the  poem.  Thire  are  five  parts,  each 
of  which  iia-s  as  its  opening  verb  a  past  fii-st  pei-son  singular, 
followed  by  a  fonn  of  the  pronoun  "you"  with  a  preposition. 
Each  lias  the  single  line  refrain:  "Hut-ye-did-not  return  iinto- 
me;  it  is  the  oracle  of  Vahwe."  In  the  I)o<mi  Song  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  refrains  and  foniiulas  are  in  couplet  form,  as  in 
the  prophetic  songs  in  I.s.  9.11,  16.  20;  10.4,  ;"),  2.');  Ezek.,  chapter 
2;'),  however,  has  the  single  line,  "That  ye  may  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord,"  without  a  parallelistic  complement. 

The  number  of  lines  in  the  five  stanzas  varies.  Stanza  1 
has  the  intro<luetory  period  (not  a  full  line),  a  paralleli.stic 
couplet,  and  the  refrain:  four  lines;  stanza  3  has  the  introduc- 
tory period  (a  full  line),  a  parallelistic  couplet,  and  the  refrain: 

(189  1 


134  Paralhlism  in  Ainus 

four  lines;  stanza  -i  has  the  introductory  period  (a  full  line), 
then  three  periods  (two  of  which  are  full  lines,  the  middle  one 
being  a  dubious  phrase  of  three  words)  :  four  lines  plus ;  stanza 
5  has  a  long  introductory  period  which  is  an  over-full  line,  a 
single  complete  line,  and  the  refrain :  apparently  three  lines 
in  all.  Stanza  2  is  the  most  troublesome.  It  contains  an 
introductory  period  of  two  lines,  not  in  parallelism,  but  approx- 
imating prose;  a  weak  couplet  wherein  parallelism  is  evident; 
another  couplet  wherein  the  second  stichos  has  a  disturbing 
relative  clause :  a  long  prosaic  line  which  cannot  even  be  split 
up  into  halves:  tinally  the  refrain:  in  toto,  eight  periods.  It 
is  at  once  evident  that  stanza  2  differs  from  the  others  in  form 
and  character.  The  cpiestion  now  arises,  as  it  will  with  ref- 
erence to  the  Doom  Song  and  the  other  strophes:  Is  there  a 
model  stanza  for  the  entire  five  parts  of  the  Grief  Song,  con- 
sisting of  the  opening  period,  a  couplet  describing  in  detail 
the  eftVct  of  the  general  threat  of  punishment  in  the  introduc- 
tory line,  finally  the  refrain,  and  the  closing  prophetic  phrase: 
four  major  periods  plus  the  neutral  closing  phrase?  This  ques- 
tion can  be  answered  only  liy  an  examination  of  the  information 
each  stanza  affords: 

Stanzas  1  and  3  conform  to  the  model  stanza,  though  as  has 
been  noted,  the  introductory  period  of  the  first  is  not  an  inde- 
pendent unit  as  in  verse  9,  but  is  completed  in  sense  only  by 
the  couplet-  which  follows.  The  adverb  iv''-gam  at  the  head  of 
stanzas  1  and  2  leads  to  the  supposition  that  tliis  may  have  been 
the  opening  word  in  each  stanza;  three,  howi'ver,  lack  it. 
Though  the  divergence  in  the  introductory  period  is  slight,  it 
is  sufficient  to  show  at  once  that  however  close  the  identity  in 
form  between  strophes,  it  is  not  absolute. 

Stanza  4  bears  this  statement  out  still  furtlier.  The  intro- 
ductory period  is,  like  that  of  stanza  3,  a  single  line;  the  second 
period  is  clear  in  sense;  but  the  third  period,  ' im  sh^hhl 
susekhiiii.  usually  ti-anslated  "together  with  the  captivity  of 
your  liorsis,""  disturbs  the  ])arallelistic  arrangement  and  is 
evidently  an  aftertliouglit.  It  is  regarded  by  many  as  an  inter- 
polation;  if   omitted   the   stanza   has   in    its   second   section   two 


100 


I'anilhlism   in  Amos  !:{.'> 

periods.  Hut  the  t'l.iirth  lu'ri...!  of  tlic  existing'  stan/a  is  apjiar- 
ciitly  I'oriiipt.  It  is  in'cossary  to  omit  tlu'  i-opula  u  bi-foiv 
bh''appikhim  in  onlcr  to  give  ulnrity.  Yet  even  witii  this  cinon- 
(hitioii  tile  sceond  scetioii,  tiioujjli  eomposed  of  two  stiehoi,  does 
not  show  tlie  elose  synonymous  parallelism  of  similar  seetions 
in  stun/as  1  and  3.  The  first  stiehos  eontains  three  members, 
the  seeond  four;  the  omission  of  the  word  "and-in-your-nostrils" 
would  L'ive  in  the  seeond  three  members,  and  would  have  tiie 
ailditional  merit  of  a  snffixal  rhyme  between  baxitrvkhim  and 
i)utx"n)'khii)i.  Whatever  be  the  deeision  on  these  points,  merely 
to  omit  the  marrinj?  third  period  in  the  present  fonu  would 
briny:  the  stanza  into  struetural  eonsonanee  with  the  first  and 
third. 

Stanza  5  is  not  so  ea.sily  dispo.sed  of.  The  introilnctory 
period  ha.s  already  been  discussed  (p.  121  )  ;  it  is  suttieient  to  note 
here  ajrain  that  the  lon^r  prosaic  line  may  be  split  up  into  two 
parts,  as  Loehr,  Baumann  and  others  sujrgest ;  but  the  shortness 
of  thi>  resulting  .St iehixs,  haphakhtl  bdkltim,  "I-overthrew  among- 
you,"  would  entail  the  inssertion  of  another  phrase,  perhaps  the 
word  'I'irhit,  "eities,"  in  the  form  'dn'khcm,  "your  cities."  This 
would  ])laee  the  line  kr-iiiahpikhalh  '<'lohhn,  etc.,  as  a  second 
stiehos,  dependent  upon  tin-  introiluetory  period,  and  would 
not  result  in  conformity  to  the  structure  of  the  single  line  intro- 
ductory period  in  .stanzas  1,  3,  and  4.  Moreover  the  second 
section,  which  in  the  other  stanzas  is  a  couplet,  is  here  a  mono- 
stieh;  there  are  no  indications  in  Amos  or  other  prophetic 
passages  to  show  that  a  line  has  dropped  out  or  that  some 
portion  could  be  restored  as  in  the  Doom  Song  to  furnish  the 
missing  complementary  stiehos.  Thus  even  if  the  first  long 
period  be  split  up  and  the  number  of  periods  thereby  become 
four  plus  the  closing  phra.se,  as  tin-  model  stanza  seems  to  demand, 
yet  internally  the  stanza  departs  from  the  nece.ssarj-  type.  And 
if  it  be  suggested  that  the  first  periiMl  remain  as  one,  merely 
onutting  the  word  ''lohim  as  superfluous  because  (Jod  him.self 
is  supposed  to  speak  thi>  sentence,  the  number  of  periods  becomes 
three  plus  the  closing  phrase,  an  even  greater  divergence  from 
the  model  stanza.      It  is  probable  then  that  the  stanza  has  not 


191  1 


];]C  raraUclisiii  in  Amos 

been  handed  down  in  its  original  furni,  and  that  responsible 
in  large  measure  fur  its  doulitfid  eliaracter,  is  the  presence  of 
the  conventional,  historical,  prophetic  reference  to  Sodom  and 
Gemorrah. 

Stanza  2  possesses  even  greater  difficulties,  since  it  throws 
into  still  greater  darkness  the  relation  of  prose  to  poetry  in 
Amos.  The  whole  stanza  is  tautological  and  defective.  Loehr 
and  others  omit  tiic  entire  passage,  verses  7  and  8,  as  a  later 
insertion.  IIar])er  is  not  so  drastic  and  correctly  makes  the 
following'  olisi-rvations:  The  words  in  the  first  section  wliich 
follow  the  introductory  period,  namely,  "while  yet  there  re- 
mained tliree  months  to  the  harvest"  may  be  a  gloss  based  on 
a  meteorological  calculation.  It  may  be  said  in  addition  that 
till'  extreme  length  of  the  Ma.ssoretic  verse  7  is  suspicious;  for 
it  may  lie  asked:  Does  not  a  Massoretic  verse  usually  contain 
four  periods  of  poetry,  or  two  couplets,  and  infrequently  six 
periods  or  three  couplets?  The  first  couplet  in  verse  7  appears 
to  be  genuine,  for  though  the  second  stichos  is  merely  an  inver- 
sion of  the  first,  yet  correspondence  of  terms  is  present.  But 
the  second  couplet  appears  to  be  redundant  because  of  the  repe- 
tition of  the  numerals  and  the  word  for  "rain,"  and  also 
because  of  the  looseness  and  tameness  of  the  style;  the  relative 
clause  in  the  second  stichos  of  this  distich  contributes  to  its 
weakness.  Hence  it  deserves  to  be  omitted  (Harper,  p.  96). 
Verse  8  is  a  long  prosaic  line,  resembling  8.11-12,  to  the  strophe 
of  whicli  it  may  belong;  it  may  be  divided  into  two  portions,  but 
solely  on  a  rhythmical  and  not  on  a  parallelistic  basis;  there 
is  again  repetition  of  the  word  "city"'  and  in  general  prosaic 
garrulity  entirely  unworthy  of  the  style  of  Amos.  It  seems 
justifiable  to  urge  its  omission ;  the  stanza  would  then  take  on 
a  form  entirely  in  keeping  with  the  model  stanza,  containing 
foTir  periods  plus  the  prophetic  phrase : 

I-also-it-was-who     withheld     from-you     the-rain, 

And-I-sent-rain     uponone-city, 
While-upon-another-eity    I-sent-not-raiu. 

But-ye-did-not     return     unto-me. 

It-is-the-oracde-of     Yahwe.  4.7-8 

[  192  J 


l;,ntll,lls„i   i„  Amos  137 

This  staii/ii  is  sfciir.'.l  liy  tli."  easy  task  nf  nniissii.ii.  Iiiit  I'm-  this 
then'  scfiiis  jiistitifaliidi  mi  literary,  syiitai-tiral.  ami  otluT 
grounds. 

Tlie  i'oiK-liisi.)iis  as  to  tiic  Ciriel"  Stiii<r  I'aiiiiot  Ik-  positivi-iy 
artiniuil,  lint  tlu-y  si-mi  to  •rrow  out  of  olrar  data.  It  appears 
evident  that  there  was  an  orifrinal  type  stanza,  eonsistiiiisr  of 
four  lines:  the  introduetory  period,  the  parallelistie  eonplet, 
deseribinjr  the  details  of  pnnishnient;  the  refrain  of  jjrrief;  and 
finally  outside  the  major  |)ortion  of  the  stanza,  the  elosin;; 
prophet ie  plira.se.  The  first  three  stanzas  show  a  parallelism 
of  elose  .synonymity:  stanza  4  needs  emendation  before  it  jrives 
a  rhythmieally  i)aratlelistie  distieh;  stanza  .')  departs  widi'ly 
from  the  model  form,  and  is  jierhaps  the  most  difHcult  of  the 
entire  set.  Stanza  2,  a  nulaiitje  of  pro.se  and  poetry,  is  soon 
narrowed  down  to  the  model  form  beeause  of  the  apparent 
illepritimaey  of  the  pro.se  portions.  One  deeision  is  indisputable: 
thonjjh  a  fyjie  stanza  may  obtain,  no  one  of  the  exist in<?  stanzas 
conforms  to  it,  even  after  emendation,  in  entirety;  eaeh  has  its 
own  slipht  variations.  Standard  stanzas  for  individual  poems 
may  have  been  the  rule  with  the  prophets;  but  none  the  less, 
preat  leeway  was  permittrd  in  the  de-rree  of  exaet  eonformanee 
to  the  type.  An  examination  of  the  other  strophie  arrange- 
ments in  Amos  will  eonlirm  these  ob.ser  vat  ions. 

.'^KKiF.s  OF  Visions 
Amos  7.1-(i  and  7-9.  and  «.!-:}  contain  four  visions  each 
bejjinning  with  the  words:  "Thus  liath-shown-me" :  but  from 
the  internal  material,  it  is  clear  that  Amos  7.1-IJ  forms  one  pair 
of  visions,  and  the  other  passages  a  second  i)air.  The  decision 
that  interparallelism  betwi'en  the  strophes  exist.s  was  reached 
before  reference  was  made  to  the  work  of  any  other  investi- 
gators; the  fact  that  virtually  the  same  conclusions  were  si'cured 
inilependcntly  is  additional  proof  of  their  validity. 

FIRST   PAIR 

In  the  tii-sf  pair  of  visions  as  in  the  Doom  and  (irief  Songs, 
a  type  stanza  is  ex|>ect<d.  The  likenes.sea  lu-tween  the  two 
strophes  arc  found  in  the  opening  prophetic  phrase  and  in  the 

[193] 


138  raraUrUsiii  in  Amos 

ri'fraiii;  the  t'nnncr  is  identical  in  its  two  occurrences,  the  lat- 
ter almost  identical:  s'lax->id\  "repent-now,"  is  paralleled  by 
x"dhal-nd',  "cease-now";  in  verses  3  and  6,  the  second  sticlioi 
of  the  last  line  of  the  refrain  differ  only  by  the  addition  of  gam, 
"also,"  in  the  latter  verse.  The  refrain  itself  shows  no  internal 
parallelism  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  should  be  written  as 
four  lines,  or  as  six  periods.  The  parallelism  is  extensive,  that 
is,  it  reaches  beyond  the  contines  of  the  strophe  and  becomes, 
through  similarity  to  the  same  portion  in  the  other  strophe, 
interiiarallelisni. 

Tiie  nal  difHeulty  in  tiiis  tirst  pair  of  visions  lies  in  the 
substance  of  the  prophecies  between  the  identical  opening-  phrase 
and  the  similar  refrains.  In  the  first  stanza,  lA-2.  tlie  lines 
as  they  stand  read : 

Anil  behold  he  was  forming  locusts  iu  the  beginning  of  the  coming 

up  of  the  aftergrowth, 
And  behold  there  were  full  grown  locusts  after  the  king's  mowings, 
And  it  came  to  pass  when  they  were  making  au  end  of  devouring 
the  herb  of  the  laud. 
Except  for  the  repetition  of  the  word  "behold"  all  parallelism 
seems  to  have  disappeari'd ;  three  long  prosaic  periods  are  here 
found,  whereas  in  the  same  section  iu  the  second  strophe,  one 
good  couplet  at  least  is  present,  though  another  prose  line  begin- 
ning "and-behold"  precedes  it.  The  text  in  the  first  strophe  is 
unclear;  the  Septuagint  is  confused  and  formless.  The  several 
suggestions  for  its  reconstruction  do  uot  restoi'e  parallelism.  If 
the  text  remain  as  it  is,  then  it  must  be  accepted  that  the  prophet 
could  throw  in  prose  at  will,  and  destroy  thereby  the  regular 
character  of  his  compositions;  but  if  it  be  felt  that  the  text 
in  its  present  form  is  irretrievably  corrupt,  then  the  conclusion 
seems  justifiable  that  absence  of  interparallelism  is  generally 
accompanied  by  a  badly  preserved  text  and  an  unclear  meaning. 
In  the  second  strophe,  the  only  flaw  lies  in  the  line:  "And 
liilidld  was-calling  to-contend  by-fire  the  Lord  Yahwe."  w-hich 
pieeedes  the  good  couplet.  Should  this  line  remain  in  its  pres- 
ent form,  or  is  it  the  remnant  of  a  good  couplet?  In  Is.  66.16 
where  virtually  the  same  thought  is  expressed,  parallelism  of 
the  most  regular  and  beautiful  kind  is  present. 

[104] 


ranilUlism   in  Am.,s  HW 

It  may  Ix-  cinu-ludod  then  from  this  poem:  (1)  either  it  con- 
tuins  a  mixture  of  prose  in  h)njr  lini-s  anil  short,  tofri-ther  witli 
paralK'lisni  and  interparallelisni  throufrli  the  presenee  of  {rood 
eouph'ts  and  almost  identieal  refrains;  (2)  or  tlie  two  stanzas, 
harrin^r  minor  elianges,  were  identieal  in  the  niimher  and  eliar- 
aeter  of  their  lines,  and  the  present  text  eontainint;  lines  did)i(ius 
in  sense  and  iinelear  in  •rranuuar  has  been  tampereil  with,  so 
tliat  a  reeonstnietion  of  the  text  shoidd  restore  parallelism  and 
inti'ri>arallelism. 

SECOND  r.MR 

The  seeond  series  of  visions  in  7.7-9  and  S.\~-\  eontains  two 
stanzas  alike  in  form  and  suhstanee.  Between  these  two  stanzas 
is  a  lonfj  narrative  passage  of  seven  verses,  evidently  inserted 
lieeause  it  deals  with  the  word  "Jerohoam,"  mentioned  in  verse 
9  (sec  below).  Thoufrh  these  .strophes  both  befiiii  with  the 
words:  "Tluis  hath-shown -me,"  the  additional  words  Yahtrc 
''luhhn  are  mi.ssinj:  from  the  fii"st ;  the  seeond  has,  however,  as 
snbjeet  Ytiliui.  The  eontext  of  this  series  diflVrs  from  that  of 
the  tirst  j)air  of  visions;  perhaps  they  were  written  at  difl'erent 
times  and  were  i-ompiled  into  their  jiresent  jiosition  bicanse  of 
the  similarity  of  their  openinfr  words  as  well  as  the  similarity  in 
the  use  of  ti"'-hhnu',  "and  beholil.'' 

The  followinfr  points  are  to  lie  noted  :  in  stanza  1  of  this  series 
the  period  beginnin'j  u'-hinnf  is  a  line  showiiif;  some  parallelism, 
due  to  the  repetition  of  the  word  '"iKlkh  in  the  phra.se  "and-in- 
his-hand  a-phnnmet,"  thonpli  Harper  wfinld  omit  this  as  a  f;loss. 
Stanza  -  has  in  this  seetion  merely  the  phrase  "and-behold  a 
sumnn'r-basket."  The  next  variation  between  the  two  stanzas 
lies  in  the  faet  that  stanza  I  has  "and-said  Vahwe  luito-me," 
while  stanza  2  has  merely  "and-said."  Hut  in  the  next  pro- 
phetie  phra.se.  to  whieh  it  must  be  admitted  no  -rreat  importanee 
ean  be  attaehed,  .stanza  2  hits  "and-said  Ytihin'  tinto-me," 
while  stanza  1  has  "And  ''Ulhntmi  .said."  There  is  no  loeal 
or  internal  parallelism  in  the  stanzas  until  the  lines  descriptive 
of  the  punishment  are  reached,  but  barrinp  these  slitrht  varia- 
tions, interpiirallelism  between  the  stanzas  is  present  liefore  the 
ngular  couplet.s. 

[  >»■■•  I  • 


140  I'araUclisin   in  Amos 

After  a  description  of  the  facts  of  the  vision,  follows  a  single 
line  playing  upon  the  name  of  the  object  seen  in  the  vision  (cf. 
Jer.  1.11  ff.,  where  there  are  two  similar  visions,  the  second  one 
being  extended  to  greater  length  than  the  first)  ;  this  single  line 
is  accompanied  by  a  second  which  contains  a  refi'ain:  "I-will- 
not-continne  again  to-pass  by-them"  (cf.  5.17).  There  is  no 
sj-nonymity  between  these  two  lines  looked  at  as  a  local  unit 
in  each  stanza,  though  togetlier  tlicy  may  be  taken  to  form  a 
rhythmical  distich. 

Stanza  1  contains  in  verse  9  a  couplet  in  perfect  synonymous 
parallelism;  a  third  stichos  follows,  but  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out,  this  appears  to  belong  with  the  isolated  single 
stichos  in  verse  17.  Stanza  2  has  here,  in  8.3,  for  the  couplet 
which  should  eoi-respond  to  7.9,  a  sadly  distorted  group  of  lines. 
Harper  has  wrongly  shifted  the  group,  and  has  in  fact  missed 
the  entire  strophic  character  of  the  two  visions;  here  his  dis- 
cussion carries  little  weight.      As  the  verse  stands  it  reads : 

AiKl-shall-be-howlings     the-songs-of     tlie-palace, 
On-that     day,     said     Yaliwe  Elohim ; 
A-multitude-of  corpses; 
In-every     place     he-shall-cast-forth     silence. 

It  is  clear  that  tlie  text  is  in  cunfiisioii.  A  conventional  pro- 
phetic phrase  in  tlie  second  pi'i'iod  liei-c  interrupts  the  major 
portion  of  the  text,  and  if  retained  should  be  shifted  to  the 
end  of  the  stanza  ;  otherwise  it  is  necessary  in  view  of  its  present 
position  and  the  absence  of  a  similar  i)hi'ase  in  the  other  strophe 
to  regard  it  as  a  later  insertion. 

Various  suggestions  for  the  reconstruction  of  this  passage 
can  lie  made.  On  the  supposition  llial  this  last  section  in  stanza  1 
is  a  quatrain,  and  that  the  single  stichos  in  7.17  should  be 
transposed  to  7.9,  thus  giving  four  stichoi.  it  will  be  necessai'y 
to  restore  here  a  tetrastich.  Tliis  would  imply  that  the  word 
hrniil  in  8.:3  would  fcn-m  the  remnant  of  one  stichos;  shirnth 
lu-UtiH.  the  fragment  of  the  tliini  stichos;  h'-khnJ  iinhjom.  the 
remnant  of  the  fourth;  and  hislillkh  plus  vaJih  h(ip-p(<jhi  r.  the 
second  stichos  (this  supposition  timls  some  support  from  a  refer- 
ence to  6.10  and  5.16)  ;  thus: 


i;,r„ll,lusm   in  Amos  141 

(hi  nil   tlio     .     .     .     .)    tlu-y  lii.wl, 

Tlio  curpsi'M  arc  pili'il  in  the  stri'fts, 
The  pnluro  songs  (iiro  hushed) 

In  every  pliieo,  they  sjiy  lii'm! 

Hut  if  it  be  iirfjod  tiiat  ii  i-oupK't  lu'iv  is  necessary,  various 
iiinre  plausible  sufijjestioMs  eaii  lie  titTereil.  The  first  is  to  re<rar(l 
hiis  as  a  part  of  a  inar>riiial  hfxln'i,  '■they-sliall-fail,"  as  in  "i.'j:!, 
intended  as  a  eorreetion  of  In'lllu,  but  inserted  as  hils,  and  as 
hiuihlikh  by  another  eopyist ;  the  reading  ean  then  beeinue : 

AnilthereshiiU-fail     tlio»ongs-of     thepalaee, 

Many  shall'lH'     theoorpses     inevery-pliioe. 

Ajrain  it  may  be  ur^eil  that  the  first  stiehos  is  genuine; 
liinhUkli  has  may  be  re-jariled  as  a  gloss;  while  nihil  hap-pt  tjlu  r 
b''-khul  miiqi'nn  nniy  lie  taken  as  the  seeond  stiehos;  this  wouKl 
give  a  eouplet  only  slightly  ditTerent  from  the  one  just  sug- 
gestefl.  Or  if  it  is  |)ossibie  to  take  has  as  a  imun  meaning 
"siienee,"  tiien  an  emendation  of  hishUkh  to  hoshhikh,  with  an 
omission  of  rahh  hap-pn/hir  would  give:  "In  every  plaei-  is 
silcnee  ejist."  litit  to  this  emendation,  as  to  the  jiresent  Masso- 
retie  text,  the  objection  might  be  raised  that  a  prediction  of 
howling  and  one  of  silence  are  mutually  contradictory.  It 
may  be  well  also  to  consider  Harper's  eniendation  of  shlriilh  to 
shi'in'ilh,  "the  singing  women."  making  the  couplet: 
And  the  singing  women  of  the  palneo  shall  wail, 
In  every  place  shall  there  he  n  nniltifude  of  corpses. 

Or  if  it  be  thcinght  that  has  is  a  ditlograpiiy  and  aliiuwiatiou  of 

hoshlokh,  the  couplet  becomes: 

And  the  singing  women  of  the  palace  shall  wnil, 

A  multitude  of  corpses!      In  every  place  they  are  cast. 

It  is  of  course  impossible  to  deciile  ilefinitely  upon  any  one  of 
these  suggestions  and  conjectures.  It  is  sufficient  to  note  that 
where  a  break  in  the  interparallelistie  arrangement  of  the 
strophes  oceui-s,  there  also  the  text  is  corrupt. 

It  may  then  bo  concluded  witii  reference  to  this  series  that 
tliese  two  strophes  conform  to  a  \y\u-  stanza  wherein  deviations 
arc  cau.S4>d  by  .slight  and  minor  changes  of  the  text,  and  nnijor 
variation.s  by  corruptions  and  textual  errors.  Where  internal 
and   extensive    parailelisni    is   weakened,    there   a    dubious   and 

[197] 


142  ParuUelisiii  in  Amos 

vague  tpxt  is  found.  It  may  perhaps  be  decided  that  if  the 
correct  text  of  this  poem  were  existent,  a  perfect  poem  of  exactly 
the  same  number  of  periods  in  eacli  stanza  would  be  present, 
and  this  would  lend  further  weight  to  the  idea  that  Amos  and 
the  proplu'ts  employed  completely  regular  stanza  poems. 

PROSE-POETIC  NAREATIVE:   7.10-17 

It  is  believed  by  some  scholars  that  the  more  important  of 
tlie  early  stories  had  their  first  literarj-  expression  in  poetry 
and  that  their  prose  form  represents  a  subsequent  stage  of  de- 
velopment. This  i^rineiple  may  apply  to  the  later  narratives 
found  iu  the  prophetic  books.  Amos  7.10-17  is  a  narrative 
account  of  the  encounter  between  the  Prophet  and  the  High 
Priest,  Amaziah.  It  seems  to  be  written  in  prose,  but  is  in 
reality  a  combination  of  prose  lines  and  extremely  regular 
parallelism.  The  conclusion  that  this  passage  represented  a 
combination  of  prose  and  poetry  was  arrived  at  independently 
of  any  commentaries ;  a  glance  at  the  work  of  other  investigators 
confirmed  the  results  reached.  Harper's  arrangement  neglects 
the  fundamental  differentiation  between  the  phrases  of  address 
in  Amos,  which  it  has  been  seen  almost  always  stand  outside 
the  major  portions  of  the  text,  and  the  real  narrative  and  par- 
allelistic  material  of  the  piece.  In  addition.  Harper  does  not 
observe  the  couplet  structure,  but  .several  times  splits  one  stichos, 
complete  in  itself,  into  two  portions,  thus  violating  a  funda- 
mental rule  of  parallelism  that  only  in  cases  of  alternate  and 
qinu  parallelism,  can  a  stichos  so  be  broken  up. 

The  primaiy  evidence  that  this  piece  contains  poetry  is  of 
course  found  in  the  many  parallelistic  couplets.  It  includes 
no  less  than  eight  clear  cut  couplets,  wherein  synonymity  is 
marked,  and  one  couplet  of  a  certain  rhj-thmical  balance  but 
without  the  synonjTuity  or  terseness  which  would  stamp  it  as 
parallelism.  This  verse,  10,  has  already  been  discussed  and 
has  been  designated  as  a  species  of  rhythmical  non-parallelism, 
approaching  the  Hebrew  prototype  of  imrhymed  saf .  The 
phrases  of  address  in  verses  10-17  stand  apparently  outside  the 
parallelism,  and  need  not  be  taken  into  account  in  a  eonsider- 

[198] 


I'lirallilisin  in  Amos  143 

atioii  of  tilt'  coiipli'ts.  Vi'i-scs  12-lU  form  somctliinj,'  of  an 
uci'iilt'iital  strophif  arnuif^iMiu'iit : 

Oh  Si-or!     Cio  lire  tliee  iiiitu  tlu'  IiiikI  of  Jixlnli, 

Ami  cat  broail  tlicro, 

And  tliiTo  proj>lie.Hy. 

But   nt   Bethel   thoii   sliiilt    no  lon^jer   prophesy, 
For  it  is  the  kind's  sanefniiry. 
And  it  is  the  royal  residence. 

Ill  this  tlm-c  lint'  strophii-  nrraiitri'imnt.  tlu-  twti  iiitrndiiftory 
lines  are  about  otiiial  in  Icngrtli  and  are  rliythmieally  similar 
tiioiipli  there  is  no  synonymity  lietween  them.  Hut  tiie  shorter 
lines  viewed  loeally  eonstitute  a  synonymous  couplet  in  each 
strophe.  If  it  is  felt  tliat  tiie  stiehoi  of  these  couplets  are  too 
short,  then  they  can  each  be  combined  into  one  fairly  Ions  stiehos 
compo-sed  of  two  hcmistiehs.  It  is  to  be  notetl  that  these 
words  are  placed  in  the  hiph  priest's  mouth;  surely  it  was  not 
eiistomary  for  speakei-s  thus  in  ordinary  conversation  to  use 
parallelism;  po.ssibly  a  later  author  made  into  parallelistic  struc- 
ture whatever  he  suppo.sed  the  priest  to  have  said.  In  verse  11, 
however,  he  tpiotes  Amos,  and  there  tlie  parallelism  is  so  definite 
as  to  be  indisputable.  It  may  well  be  that  Amos  in  the  heat 
t)f  his  ilenuiieiation  spoke  in  parallelism;  this  phenomenon  is 
present,  as  has  been  observed,  in  tin'  Arabic  hhutha.  If  the 
priest  usually  spoke  in  parallelism  in  his  oracles  (and  such 
seems  to  be  the  ca.se  in  Finnish.  Arabic,  Babylonian  and  other 
literatures),  here  he  may  have  done  so  out  of  force  of  habit. 
Jloreovcr,  Amos  is  suppo.sed  to  attribute  to  the  liij;li  jtriest  a 
paralleli.stie  couplet  in  vei-se  16.  The  kind's  words,  (pioted  by 
the  hi>rh  ])riest  in  warninf;  Amos,  are  not  couched  in  synonymous 
parallelism,  but  seem  to  constitute  a  rhythmical  distich.  All 
those  points  appear  to  sujrgest  that  even  thoufjli  the  words  here 
attributed  to  prt)phet,  priest,  and  kiiip  were  not  (U-ijjinally 
spoken  in  parallelism,  a  later  compiler  and  narratiu'.  visibly 
undt-r  the  effect  of  prophetic  style  and  method,  has  employed 
parallelism  better  to  make  the  pa.ssajre  seem  the  jrenuine  work 
of  Amns. 

Another  seeminply  rhythmical  distich  appeai-s  in   verse   1.'). 
If  the  phra.se  of  address,  "and-.said  TitKl  iinto-mi',"  is  repardetl 

[199] 


144  raralhlisiii  in  Amos 

as  eciiiivalent  to  neutral  quotation  marks  and  hence  outside  the 
paralh'lism,  then  the  conibiuatiou  becomes: 

And  Yahwe  took  nie  from  behind  the  sheep; 

"Go  prophesy  against  my  people,  Israel." 

This  distich  has  no  synonymity,  and  has  the  additional  dis- 
advantage of  combining:  a  period  of  narrative  and  a  period  of 
discourse.  Hence  doubt  may  be  rightly  thrown  upon  this 
arrangement. 

It  has  already  been  noted  tliat  verse  9  may  be  transposed  to 
complete  with  verse  17  a  full  couplet,  so  that  it  may  correspond 
to  the  words  imputed  to  Amos  by  the  priest  in  verse  11.  It 
may  be  ol)jected  here  that  this  would  make  verse  17  longer  than 
the  usual  ilassoretic  verse,  since  it  would  contain  the  phrase 
of  address,  and  three  complete  couplets.  This,  however,  does 
not  outweigh  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  transposition. 

Thus  it  will  be  observed  that  the  only  factors  which  play 
a  part  in  the  non-poetical  portions  of  the  narrative  are:  (1)  the 
near-prose  rhythmical  distich  in  verse  10;  (2)  the  prosaic  narra- 
tive lines  in  verse  10,  and  possibly  in  verse  14,  though  the  latter 
may  belong  to  the  following  class;  (3)  the  customary  phrases  of 
address,  such  as  "saying,"  "and  Amaziah  said  to  Amos,"'  "and 
God  said  unto  me."  the  unusual  "and  now  harken  imto  the  word 
of  Yahwe.""  and  tinally.  "therefore  thus  saith  Yahwe,"  together 
with  the  mocking  taunt  attributed  to  the  king,  "for  thus  saith 
Amos,'"  in  verse  11.  These  apparently  stand  outside  of  the 
major  parallelism,  tliough  Harper's  arrangement  into  two 
strophes  of  exactly  fifteen  lines  each  includes  them  in  tlie 
distich  and  strophic  scheme.  The  conclusion  therefore  is  that 
it  is  imperative  to  examine  any  so-called  prose  portions  of  the 
prophecies  with  exceeding  care  to  determine  whether  parallelism 
can  be  discovered.  Moreover  the  pi-esence  of  parallelism  in  a 
supposedly  prosaic  pa.ssage  appears  to  be  further  indication  that 
the  prophets  attributed  parallelism  not  merely  to  the  words 
of  God,  but  also  to  the  speeches  of  their  contemporaries  and 
opponents,  who  used  it  for  no  divine,  but  for  a  purely  human, 
utterance.  This  may  dovetail  with  the  fact  that  parallelistic 
rliymed   prose   was  so   common   with    tlie   Arabs   that    even   tlie 

[  200  ] 


I'anillrlism  i„  Amns  145 

woiiH'ii  ami  cliildrcn  ciiiitloyiHl  it  in  oriiiiiary  spiH'cli.  Any 
chilioratf  I'dni'lnsioiis,  Ikiwcvit,  on  llir  Imsis  of  sncli  sli-.'iit  ivi- 
dfiU'O,  are  danffcmus. 

Tin-  ((lU'stion  wlictlicr  Amos  or  anollicr  writrr  t'onipostil  tliis 
still  rcinains  iinanswt'rt>(l.  Tlu-  style  is  that  of  Amos;  the  text 
is  clear  and  apparently  unimpaired.  On  this  point  it  may  be 
obsi-rved  that  an  uneorrujjted  text  usually  shows  uneorrupted 
parallelism — a  eonvei-se  to  the  eonelusion  reaehed  above  that  a 
marred  text  is  usually  accompanied  by  broken  ]iarallelism.  For 
these  various  reasons,  then,  this  passajre  afTords  fruitful  data  for 
a  determination  of  the  de;rree  and  scope  of  interi)lay  between 
prose  and  poetry  in  Amos. 


[201 


146 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  DOOM  SONG,  AMOS  1.3-2.8 
RECONSTRUCTION  OF  STANZAS  1,  2,  5  AND  G 


(Stanza  1) 
Jro  'dmar  '"dhondi 


'al  sheloskd  pishe'e  dammeseq 
w^-al  'aril a' a  16'   '"slnhhennu 


'al  lax"i:(iti 
w'^-dhushan 


'eth-hug-gW  ddh 
ba-x"rn(;oth  hali-bar 


(Stanza  2) 
'dmar  '"dhondi 


'  al  shelosha  pish^ '  e  '  azzd 
W-' al   'arbd'd  16'   '"shlbhcnr. 


'al  haghlotJiam  gdliith  sh'^lci 
U-hasgir  '%r  u-mHo'dh 


u'l'-slidhixii   'fsh  b<^-bh<th  x"~'' ''"' 
W<:-dkh<^ld  \irm<-n6th  ben-li"dhridh 


W^-shdbharfl  b<^rl"x  damiiusui 
w<^-dliaMliutli  biq' ath-'dwcn  '"ghaddr 


w'^-ndp}i<!l>l  bax't 
%r'-  nhdln  'am- '") 


J  bc-bhetlt-'  edhc) 
qJrd 


-stiUhixtl 
■■'akit'la 


csh  t'^-xomof/j  '  azza 
mfnotheha 


-hikJinittJ  i/oslu'bh  -me- 
'-thomckh  shcbhet  me-  'ashqcl6n 


wa-lfshlbhotlil  yadhl  'al-'eqron 
W-'dbh'^dhu  sh^'erWi  pelislittm 


'  al  shf^losha  pLfJii'i    hh'-m' 
w«-'al  'arbd'd  16'   '"sKbhf 


'al  biqc'dm  ' dre  ghddh 
I'^-ma'an  liarxibU  'eth-g^blulldh 


'al  slf-'lushd  pisM'f:  md'dbh 
ii-<:-' al   'arbd'd  16'   '"shlbhennu 


'al  sorepho  '"gdrndth  lam-molekU 
way-yizbax  'ddhdm  lash-shedh 


w'^-hif-^'attl  'csh  b^-x<>in<ith 
w"-  'dkh^ld  'arm<!n6th,ehd 


W-hiphqadhtliv  b<:-])6m  milxdmd 
bo-sa'ar  b^-yom  suphd 


W-hdlakh  malkdtn  bag 
hu'  w^-sdrdw  yaxddw 


■shillaxtt  'csh  h^-mO'dbh 
■-'ul:h<:ld  'arm^ndth  haq-qcrlijoth 


w^-hcmattl  b^-slid'on  mo'u 
'bi-th'^i-d' a  b<^-q6l  slwphdr 


w'-hishmadhtl  shophct  miq-qirbdh 
w^-khol  sdreha  'ehrdgh  'immo 


[202] 


I'dnillilisiii  ill  Aiiius 

(Stanza  1:  Amos  1.3-5) 

Tims  siiitli  Yalnv6: 

Kor  tliroo  sins  of  Unniusoiis, 

Yoa  for  four,  1   will  uot  revoke  it. 

Ifooaiiso  tliey  oppressed  Ciilend, 

Aiiil  tlireslieil  with  iiiipleiiieuts  of  iron. 

So   I   will  semi   (ire  into  the   house  of   llnznel, 
Ami   it   will  consume  the  paliices  of   Benhmlml. 

And  I  will  break  the  l>ar  of  Dama.setis, 

And  the  gates  of  Bikeath-Awen   I   will  hew  down. 

And  her  youths  shall  fall  in  Beth  Eden; 
And  the  people  of  Aram  shall  };o  into  exile. 


(Stanza  2:   Amos  l.tJ^S) 
Thus  saith  Ynhw^: 


For  three  sins  of  Gaza, 
Vea  for  four,  I  will  not 


Beeause  they  have  exiled  a  complete  capti 
To  deliver  up  the  city  and  its  contents. 


So  I  will  send  lire  into  the  wall  of  (i.nza, 
And  it  will  consume  her  palaces. 


And  I  will  cut  off  the  inhabitant  from  .Vshdoil, 
And  the  seeptrcholder  from  Aslikelon. 


And  I  shall  turn  my  hand  against  Rkron, 

And  the  remnant  of  the  Philistines  shall  perish. 


(Stanza  '>:  Amos  1.13) 

Thus  saith  Yahw*: 

For  three  sins  of  the  Ammouitca, 
Yea  for  four,  I  will  not  revoke  it. 

Bocaus*  they  have  pierced  through  the 
In  order  to  inrrra«c  their  borders. 


(  203 


148  Parallclisin  in  Amos 

So  I  will  kimllf  a  fii-f  on  the  wall  of  Rabba, 
And   it  will  eoiisume  her  palaces. 

Ami  I  will  visit  him  with  a  day  of  war, 
With  a  whirhvinil  in  the  day  of  tempest. 

And  tlieir  king   shall   go  into  exile, 
He  and  his  princes  together. 


Stanza  6. 
Thus  saith  Tahwe: 

For  three  sins  of  Moab, 

Yea  for  four,  I  will  not  revoke  it. 

Because  they   have  burned   bones   to  Molech, 
And  sacrificed  men  to  a  shrdli. 

So  I  will  send  fire  upon  Moab, 

And  it  will  consume  tlie  palaces  of  Kerioth. 

And  I  will  slay  in  a  tumult  Moali, 

With  shouting,  with  tlie  sound  of  the  trumpet. 

And  I  will  destroy  the  judge  from  her  midst. 
And  all  her  princes  I  will  slay  with  him. 

Saith  Yahwe. 


VERSE  AND  STANZA  PARALLELISM 

It  is  evident  that  chapters  l.:i-2.8  are  cast  in  the  form  of  a 
poetical  unit.  There  are  patent  indications  of  sjTnmetrj-  be- 
tween the  lines  and  between  the  various  oracles.  This  fact  has 
been  noted  bj-  every  recent  investigator  of  tlie  Book  of  Amos, 
and  is  at  once  observable  to  the  general  reader. 

The  poem  deals  with  judgment  to  be  inflicted  upon  the 
principal  nations  bordering  on  Israel  and  Judah — Damascus, 
Philistia,  Tyre,  Edom,  the  Ammonites  and  ]\Ioab — witli  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  to  Israel  that  as  all  the  peoples  have  offended 
God  by  their  acts  against  common  morality  and  humanity,  so 
Israel  will  suffer  punishment  for  great  or  greater  sins.  The 
law  of  righteous  retribiition  will  be  the  standard  for  meting 
out  merited  doom  to  the  nations.  This  Doom  Song  is  similar 
to  others  scattered  thrnu,i;lic)ut  the  iirophetieal  books,      Zenner, 


[  204  ] 


rnnilltlisn,  i„  Autos  149 

MuflliT,  Ellioi-st.  Loehr.  Sicvci-s,  t'ldidaiiiiii,  Hmiiimmi.  .Marti, 
Xowuck,  llarpir  ami  otiifi-s  liavf  iiiadc  valuablf  sii^'irtstioiis  willi 
iftVri'iua"  tt)  tlif  pntpiM-  arraiiyrciiieiit  of  the  poem,  liiit  nearly  all 
have  prdcfitli'il  ii))()ii  lian^froiis  assumptions  ntranlinjr  slroplii- 
and  nu'tro;  tlic  prim-iplc  of  parallelism  lias  liccn  nc^lcctfd  to  a 
larfje  decree.  This  study  is  an  attempt  to  apply  tlie  canons  of 
parallelism  in  a  roeonstnietion  of  the  Doom  8on;r. 

An  endeavor  will  he  made  on  the  basis  of  the  internal  and 
other  evidence  to  learn  whether  complete  symmetry  can  he 
i>.\l>eeted  in  the  poetic  arran<remcnt.  It  has  already  heen 
observed  in  a  discussion  of  the  (irief  Son".'  and  of  the  two  pairs 
of  visions  in  Amos  that  ajiparently  the  one  factor  which  i>re- 
vents  close  adherence  to  a  model  form  is  textual  corruption. 
It  will  be  clear  from  an  examination  of  the  Doom  Son;;  in  Amos 
that  the  diver<renees  must  be  explained  on  similar  frromids. 

The  indications  of  vei-se  symmetry  or  parallelism  an'  numer- 
ous, and  scarcely  need  further  comment.  The  formulas  of 
ofTense  and  punishment,  and  1.5.  8,  11,  14,  15:  li.'J.  :{.  4.  show 
the  dearest  parallelism,  the  tyjies  of  which  have  been  analyzed 
above.  Thoufrh  the  deforce  of  regularity  varies,  the  ]>resence 
of  [>arallelism  is  indubitable. 

The  indications  of  stanza  symmetry  or  interparalhlism  are 
more  obscure  and  intricate,  tlioujrh  none  the  less  i)resent.  Eifjrht 
times,  at  the  head  of  each  jrroup,  stands  the  coui>let :  "For  three 
sin.s,"  etc.:  this  leads  to  its  desifrnation  as  the  •' introductory 
couplet,"  marking:  the  beginninfr  of  what  nuiy  now  be  called 
stanzas.  Each  of  the  right  stanzas  contains  the  couplet:  "And 
I  will  send  fire,"  etc.  Interveninjj:  between  these  two  constant 
formulas,  are  either  a  lonjr  line  (1.8,  t> :  2.1),  two  stiehoi  (1.9, 
l:?),  or  four  stiehoi  (1.11,  2.4).  These  stiehoi  state  the  specific 
otTense  of  each  nation.  After  the  fonnida  of  punishment  there 
occurs  in  some  of  the  stanzas  additional  material,  relatiufr  in 
detail  the  manner  of  the  [uinishment.  four  lines  oeenrrinsr  in 
1.5,  8,  14-15:  2.2-.{:  three  of  the  stanzas  close  with  the  |)unisli- 
nieiit  formula.  It  must  be  statid  without  <lelay  that  stanza  8 
denlin^r  with  Israel,  shows  the  intro<luclory  formula,  but  there- 
after such  marked  variations  from  the  other  stanzas  that  it  must 


[  20.-. 


150  Parallelism  in  Amos 

be  observed  separatelj'.  The  formula  of  punishment  is  missing, 
the  material  of  the  offense  has  been  extensively  expanded;  its 
departure  from  the  the  other  seven  stanzas  is  so  radical  that 
its  consideration  in  relation  to  them  would  complicate  and 
hinder  the  discussion. 

Tlie   survey   of  the   song  shows   then,   that   there   are   eight 
portions  with  much  the  same  language  and  also  much  the  same 
sequence  of  thought.     This  sequence  of  thought  runs  as  follows : 
God  speaks  ("Thus  saith  Yahwe"),  stating 

(1)  his  refusal  to  forgive  under  any  circumstances, 

(2)  because  of  the  sins  of  the  offending  nation; 

(3)  therefore  he  will  reap  vengeance  by  fire, 

(4)  and  (in  four  stanzas)  by  varying  modes  of  punishment. 
Eeiteration  that  God  has  spoken  (in  these  four  stanzas). 

The  designation  "section"  will  be  applied  to  each  of  the  four 
major  points  of  this  siMpifiuM' :  tlic  wni'd  •'mcmlicr'"  or  "term" 
will  denote  each  major  word  in  these  sections. 

VARIATIOXS  IX  THE  EIGIIT  STANZAS 

Till'  ri'prtitions  within  the  small  compass  of  the  song  are 
quite  numerous.  These  include  not  the  constant  formulas,  but 
those  phrases  which  seem  out  of  place  or  which  have  the  under- 
current of  stylistic  unfitness  associated  with  repetitions  close 
to  one  another. 

1.-  None  ill  the  first  section. 
2.  Second  section. 


1.3,  13 

liag-gile '  adii 

1.6,  9 

le-hasgir  and  has 
gdluth  sht'lima 

1.5,  (i,  9,  15,  forms 

of 

gala 

1.9,  11 

'"X 

1.11,  2.4 

.shdmar 

2.1,  1.15 

wrlelh 

1.15,  2.4 

hahiLh 

3.  Third  section,  none. 

4.  Fourth  section. 

1.5,  8,  the  couplet 

Wkiihmtll,  etc. 

1.5,  8;  2.3 

W-hilhrnttl 

1.5,  6,  9,  15,  forms 

of 

gala 

1.14,  2.2 

bi-tWrii'a 

1.1.5,  2.3 

sdr 

[206] 


rar„ll,li'<,„  in  A,„os  151 

Till'  variations  as  bftwccii  the  slaii/.as  arc  iiiiiicirtaiil.  'I'lic 
iiiiiiilii'r  t)f  lint's  varies. 

Stanzn  1,  11  linos  in  n  series  of  1,  2,  1,  2,   I,   I. 

Stanza  2,  11  Hues  in  a  series  of  1,  2,  1,  2,   I,  1. 

Stanza  3,     7  linos  in  a  series  of  1,2,  2,  2. 

Stanza  4,     9  lines  in  a  scries  of  I,  2,  -t,  2. 

Stanza  5,  12  lines  in  a  series  of  1,  2,  2,  2,  4,  1. 

Stanza  6,  11  lines  in  a  series  of  1,  2,  1,  2,  4,  1. 

Stanza  7,     9  lines  in  a  series  of  1,  2,  4.  2. 

It  is  to  bf  noted  then:  (a)  the  introduetory  prophetic  phrase 
remains  constant;  (b)  the  introduetory  offense  couplet  remains 
constant;  (c)  the  specific  offense  section  undergoes  many  varia- 
tions; (d)  the  doom  couplet  in  a  number  of  lines  remains  con- 
stant, thoujrh  sli<rht  linjruistic  variations  occur;  (e)  the  expan- 
sion of  the  punishment  description  changres.  in  three  ca.ses  being 
omitted,  in  four  having  four  lines  each;  (f)  the  closing  pro- 
phetic postlude  phra.sc  in  the  four  ca.ses  where  the  extended 
description  of  punishment  occurs,  is  present;  in  the  other  three 
cases,  those  minus  exiiansion,  it  is  missing. 

The  varying  sections  are  the  pivot  of  the  wholi'  study. 
Section  2.  concerning  the  specific  offense,  suffers  the  greatest 
changes.  Stanzas  1,  2,  and  6  have  a  single  line;  stanzas  2 
and  ")  have  a  pair  of  lines;  stanzas  4  and  7  have  two  pairs  of 
lines.  The  single  line  in  each  case  is  extremely  long,  and  while 
translatable,  has  an  obscure  sense;  the  text  seems  corrupt;  at 
the  same  time  no  parallelism  is  present.  The  sections  with 
pairs  of  lines  are  also  doubtful.  Stanza  3  shows  in  it.s  first 
line  a  repetition  from  the  section  of  stanza  2;  the  same  vague- 
ness of  sense  as  in  the  other  .sections  occurs;  parallelism  in  the 
strict  .sense  of  synonymity  and  correspondence  is  absent  between 
the  two  stichoi.  The  sections  with  a  double  i)air  of  lines  in 
stanzas  4  and  7  are  b'ss  difficult  but  not  without  flaws:  the 
fonner  has  a  difficult  phra.sc  in  if  -shixi'tli  rcx"""'"'  ""d  stanza  7 
has  the  almost  untranslatable  u'lniiiatli'  urn  kiz'bhi'hrm.  The 
problems  of  the  length  of  the  lines,  the  lateness  of  language, 
and  other  points  will  be  considered  below. 

Section  3  of  the  stanzn.s  shows  only  slight  variations.  The 
most   intensting  occurs   in   stanzii   .'»   where   tin-   Prophet    after 

[  207  ] 


152  I'iir(ill( Usui  in  Amos 

using-  w<'-shillaxt'f  six  times,  suddmily  employs  w<^-hi<^catn.  Per- 
haps according-  to  G.  A.  Smith's  interpretation,  this  is  due  to 
symmetrophobia ;  tlie  most  plausible  reason,  however,  will  be 
pointed  out  below.  In  three  eases  "wall,""  in  one  "house,"  in 
three  the  name  of  a  city  or  country  (stanza  1,  Damascus;  in 
stanza  6,  Moab,  and  in  stanza  7,  Judah)  are  used.  Throughout 
the  seven  stanza.s,  "palaces"  occurs,  but  w'ith  the  suffix  f7u7  in 
stanzas  2,  3,  5,  and  in  thi-  construct  followed  b>-  the  name  of  a 
king  in  stanza  1.  (if  a  city  in  stanzas  4  ,6,  7. 

Seetion  4  lietrays  puzzling  variations.  Stanzas  ;5.  4.  7  omit 
entirely  the  section  with  the  postlude;  stanzas  2  and  .5  have 
apparently  jierfect  parallelism;  stanza  6,  except  for  the  repeti- 
tiim  iif  ir'-hikhratti  and  the  suffixes,  has  apparently  good  parallel- 
ism; stanza  1  is  the  most  difficult  of  the  set.  It  has  four  lines, 
the  second  and  third  forming  a  couplet  which  is  in  excellent 
parallelism,  but  which  also  stands  at  the  head  of  section  4 
in  stanza  2.  The  first  line  of  the  fourth  section  in  stanza  1 
prophesies  the  destruction  of  the  gates  of  Damascus;  the  fourth 
stiehos  foretells  exile  for  the  population.  That  tliis  fourth 
section  has  undergone  corruption  is  undoubti-d. 

A  final  variation  between  the  stanzas  occurs  in  stanza  2, 
where  after  a  seemingly  intact  section  of  two  parallelistic  coup- 
lets, not  the  final  phrase,  "saith  Yahwe"  biit  "saith  my  Lord, 
Yahwe"  occurs.     Tlie  reason  for  this  will  be  attempted  below. 

These  discrepancies,  which  will  increase  in  number  as  the 
study  advances,  suffice  to  demonstrate  the  intricacy  of  the  prob- 
lems and  the  danger  of  any  effort  at  dogmatic  solutions.  Their 
greatest  value  is  to  raise  certain  fundamental  questions,  which 
though  they  busy  themselves  iimnediately  with  the  text  in  hand, 
yet  extend  themselves  in  import  to  the  whole  mass  of  biblical 
literature,  and  involve  the  most  far-reaching  points  of  disagree- 
ment in  modern  biblical  criticism.  These  questions,  which  have 
already  been  suggested  in  the  last  chapter,  are : 

1.  Why  do  the  variations  occur  between  the  various  lines  of 
tlie  poem  and  between  the  various  stichoi  in  seemingly  jiarallel- 
istic  couplets? 

2.  AVliv  do  the  variations  occur  between  the  stanzas? 


:i.  Dois  a  type  cMiuplct  I'xist  fnnii  which  the  variatii)iis  (icciir 
without  law,  or  (Iocs  Ihi-  t\p>'  coiiijlc't  iiurdy  siTvi-  as  a  siib- 
stratuiu  for  variations  jruitli'd  In  cirtaiii  and  i''-<.'nhir  laws  of 
l)arallolisni? 

4.  Dors  a  typf  stanza  oxist  which,  dospitf  the  variations,  was 
ori<,Mnally   the  niodcl   for  the  divisions  of  the  entire  Son;;? 

In  order  to  be  able  to  propose  answers  to  these  (|uestions,  it 
is  lueessary  that  the  text  under  discussion  lie  minutely  cxanuned. 

ANALYSIS  OF  THE  KIGIIT  STANZAS 
Stanza  1. — Damascus 

The  oracle  on  Damascus  is  apparently  p-nuinc  and  in  the 
main  ori<rinated  with  Amos.  The  first  evidence  for  this  con- 
clusion is  the  strophie  structure  of  the  stanza.  It  consists  of 
1  -r  :2  -f-  1  -f-  2  -f  4  -f  1  periods.  The  arransrements  of  Harper, 
.Mueller  and  Loelir  ncfrlcet  the  sectional  eiiaracter  of  the  piece, 
and  brinfj  lines  to-rether  into  triplets  wiiieii  in  reality  should  be 
scparatetl  into  independent  units.  The  second  section,  of  one 
stichos,  is  faulty,  but  an  emendation  jrives  two  stiehoi  in  jrood 
couplet  formation.  The  fo\irtli  section,  thoujjrh  composed  of  four 
stiehoi  is  also  faulty:  when  reconstrueted,  however,  it  still  retains 
the  siime  number  of  periods,  but  two  irofnl  couplets  emer<re. 
Ilenee  the  arran;;ement  in  the  lifrht  of  corrections  becomes 
1  +  2  -r  2  +  "2  4-  4  +  1  ;  this  total  of  12  periods  conforms  witli 
tlie  expected  and  siip^ested  model  stanza. 

The  second  proof  of  tlie  authenticity  of  the  oracle  is  the 
specific  character  of  the  otTense,  wliieh  refi-rences  in  the  historical 
books  will  be  found  to  substantiate.  The  third  proof  is  the 
lan}jruaf:e  nstd.  Thoujrh  the  stiehoi  b,  c,  and  d  are  apparently 
late  or  misplaced  in  section  4.  the  terms  of  the  other  sections 
apparently  are  jrenninely  Amosian  in  styli-. 

In  the  openinjj  or  prelude  pro|)lieti<'  phrase  and  in  the  ofTen.se 
formula  the  stanza  adlieres  to  the  model.  The  second  section 
on  the  specific  otTenso  affords  difficulty: 

ftfau.w  they  linvo  throsliitl  with  throsliiiin  iniploiiiriits  of  iron 
Gilcatl. 


154  Parallclisni  in  Amos 

This  is  a  sinjrle  stie-lids.  without  any  parallelism:  the  line  is 
luiaaturally  long,  comparable  therein  to  the  second  section  in 
stanzas  2  and  6;  the  presence  of  the  object  'eth-hag-Gil'ddh  so 
far  from  the  verb  increases  the  doubt.  Two  stichoi  in  parallelism 
are  expected.  Loehr,  Harper  and  others  make  the  word  'cth- 
hag-Gil'  (idh  into  a  second  stichos;  but  that  a  single  detached 
word  should  act  as  such  is  impossible. 

.Srvcral  reconstructions  may  be  suggested: 

1.  '  al  !ax"i'ain  'cth-hag-GW  adh 
W-dilsMm  'ba-x"'>'UQdth  hnb-liarzel. 
Because  they  pressed  by  force  GUead, 
And  tlireshed  with  implemeuts  of  iron. 

The  event  to  which  Amos  refers  is  quite  clearly  the  o|)i)res- 
sion  of  Israel  by  Hazael,  king  of  Syria  (II  K.  S.Sff. ;  9.14,  15; 
10.32;  12.18,  19;  13.3ff.).  This  oppression  covered  a  period 
from  c.  830-790  B.C.  The  specific  nature  of  the  offense  can  be 
perhai)S  seen  by  a  eoiiiparison  with  II  K.  1:1.7.  Ileri-.  afti;r  the 
pure  prose,  "For  he  (Hazai'l)  h-ft  to  Jchoahaz  of  the  people 
none  save  fifty  horsemen  and  ten  chariots  and  ten  thousand 
footmen, " '  occurs  a  couplet  in  perfect  parallelism : 

For  tlie  Icing  of  Syria  "destroyed  them, 

And  made  them  like  dust  for  the  thresliing. 

The  use  of  the  phrase  ke-'dphar  Id-dhfish  points  to  tiie  identity 
of  the  events  referred  to  by  Amos.  In  II  K.  13.4.  with  regard 
to  the  subjection  of  Israel  to  Ilazael,  occurs  the  noun  hixn^ ; 
the  verb,  meaning  '"to  ojiiu'ess,  to  squeeze"  makes  an  excellent 
synonym  to  dilsli  and  is  further  sanctioned  by  its  usage  in 
Amos  6.14. 

2.  ' al  diisliam  'eth  hag-Gil' adii  h-'dphdr, 
wa-tjeslmuhu  l'am-md(;  la-dhnq. 

Because  they  liave  tlireshed  Gilcad  to  dust, 
And  made  him  as  chaff  for  tlie  pres.sing. 

3.  'al  dusham  'eth  hag-Gil' culh  ha-x''rusdth, 
way-ya(ar  bi-irfghcroth  hab-harzrl. 

Because  they   threshed   Gilead   witli   implements, 
And   sawed  him  with   iron   saws. 

One  group  of  reconstructions  still  remains.  The  Septuagint 
leads  the  way:  its  translation  for  the  second  section  of  stanza 
1    reads:    "Because    thev    sawed    with    iron    saws    tlir    women 


[210; 


I'liralUlisin  in  Amos  155 

with  fliild  of  tlio  (iulaaditcs"";  ami  fur  tlie  same  soi'lioii  in 
stanza  5:  '•Bicniisc  tlu'y  rippt'd  u()  tin-  women  with  child  of 
the  lialaadites. "  Either  the  Iranslatoi-s  did  not  nndei-stand 
the  text  in  1.8,  or  they  confused  it  with  1.13,  or  what  is  more 
likely,  the  orifjinal  text  of  tiic  two  sections  stood  in  intimate 
relationsliip.  In  stanza  5,  there  is  somethinfi  of  a  nuit-si  quiiitr 
in  ideas  between  tiie  lii-st  and  second  stichoi  of  the  couplet  in 
the  second  section;  moreover  no  historical  evidence  is  at  hand 
to  show  that  the  Ammonites  committed  the  barbarity  on  the 
people  of  Israel.  Hut  a  fruitful  j)a.ssa<;e  in  II  K.  8.12  attributes 
this  very  act  to  the  Syrians  vuider  Ilazacl.  Tiiis  pa.ssage,  which 
contains  two  poetical  couplets  in  tlie  midst  of  prose  narrative, 
is  a  prediction  by  Elisha  of  the  deeds  of  Ilazael  as  kin;.': 

Tlioir  stron);lioM.H  wilt  thou  set  on  tire, 

Ami  their  youup  men  wilt  thou  slay  with  the  sworj. 

Ami  thou  wilt  dash  to  pieces  their  children. 

Ami  rip  up  their  women  with  child. 

The  followin<r  sufrpestion  may  then  be  made: 

4.  'at  biq'am  hiin'iih  hag-Gil' odh, 
Wdusham  ba-x"''U(<'itl'  habbar:il. 

Because  they  rippeil  up  the  pregnant  women  of  Gilead, 
And  threshed  them  with  implements  of  iron. 

This  takes  over  bodily  from  stanza  5  the  first  stichos.  aiul  omits 
"Gilead"  in  the  secoiul  stichos. 

Conclusions  on  the  .second  section  of  stanza  1  arc:  (li  the 
text  does  not  appear  to  be  the  fjenuine  composition  of  Amos; 
(2)  n  second  stichos  is  needed  to  complete  the  couplet:  (3)  the 
probable  restorations  are  numeroiis.  Either  the  first  or  the 
fourth  of  the  above  may  be  preferred. 

The  fourth  (i.e..  punishment*  section  of  stanza  1  reads  as 
follows: 

.\nd   I  will  break  the  bar  of  Danm.scns  (a) 

.\n.l  I  will  cut  otr  the  inhabitant  from  BikathAwrn  (b) 

.\iid   the  .sceptre-holder    from   B«'th-Eden  (c) 

And  the  people  of  Aram  shall  go  into  exile  to  Kir.  (d) 

This  .section  tloos  nr>t  appear  to  be  ori^rinal  with  Amos,  but 
contains  in.sertions  and  later  additions:  (1)  The  ideas  are  more 
numerous  than  in  any  other  fourth  section  of  the  Doom  Soiij; : 
1211  I 


156  ParallcUsm  In  Amos 

destruction  of  buildings,  presumably  of  ]mlaees ;  slaughter  of 
iuhabitants ;  slaughter  of  ruler;  exile  for  the  nation.  (2)  The 
lack  of  close  parallelism  points  to  a  faulty  text;  stiehos  a  has 
no  parallel  as  in  the  other  stanzas ;  d  has  no  complement ;  nor 
can  they  be  combined  to  form  a  couplet.  The  central  location 
of  the  parallelistic  couplet  b  plus  e  violates  the  form  of  the 
other  fourth  sections.  (3)  The  repetition  of  the  central  coup- 
let at  the  head  of  the  fourth  section  in  stanza  2  operates  against 
its  authenticity  in  stanza  1 ;  it  is  entirely  in  place  in  stanza  2, 
which  conforms  to  the  model  stanza  in  its  structure  in  the  fourth 
section,  whereas  in  stanza  1  it  is  out  of  place.  How  then  did 
this  section  come  to  have  its  present  form  ? 

In  II  K.  16.9  occurs  the  passage:  "And  the  king  of  Assyria 
went  up  to  Damascus  and  eomiuered  it  and  led  it  into  exile 
beyond  Kir  and  Rezin  he  killed.'"  The  phrase  ivaij-ijaglehd 
(i.e.,  tjilhl  ■(uii-'"ratii)  (Jlra  bears  so  striking  a  resemblance  to  the 
Amos  jilirasc  (/illri  '  <nii-'"rrnii  (Jlnl  that  between  the  two  some 
interrelation  may  e.xist.  Two  hypotheses  are  possible:  first,  that 
the  Amos  passage  is  prior,  and  that  the  Kings  verse  is  a  later 
insertion,  or  second,  that  the  narrative  account  preceded,  a  later 
editor  having  brought  Amos  into  eonfonnity  therewith. 

In  support  of  the  first  theory,  it  may  be  said  that  it  seems 
plausible  that  Amos  had  Assyria  in  mind  as  the  world  power 
which  would  wreak  vengeance  upon  Damascus,  for  it  was  the 
most  likely  to  engage  in  the  practice  of  deportation.  The  words 
in  II  K.  16.9  refer  to  the  actual  punishment  which  Amos  pre- 
sumably foretells.  The  result  of  the  combined  attack  of  Pekah, 
King  of  Israel,  and  Rezin,  King  of  Damascus,  upon  Judah 
(II  K.  16.5ff. :  Is.  7.1),  was  that  Ahaz  applied  to  Tiglath  Pileser 
for  help;  he  res])(in(Icd  to  the  appeal  and  slaughtered  the  King 
of  Damascus  and  exileil  the  nation.  Verse  9  is  apparently  not 
in  good  condition;  the  repetition  of  the  name  melekh  'Ashshur 
leads  to  the  supposition  that  something  may  have  been  omitted 
between  the  two  parts  of  the  sentence;  the  real  interest  of  the 
narrator  is  in  a  portrayal  of  the  sin  of  idolatry  -which  arose 
from  contact  of  Ahaz  and  Assyria.  Though  tlie  vei-se  may  be 
a  condensation,  the  second  portion  is  apparently  intact  in  its  own 
limits. 

[212] 


I'linillrlisiii  ill  Amos  1;)7 

Tin-  ndact.if  cif  Kind's  iiiiiy  liavr  iiisrrtr,!  th.'  pliras.'  wuij- 
yaylilul  (Jlid  in  ordi-r  tliat  tlic  speuilii-  ri'tVrciu'e  of  Amos  to  the 
iiupt'iuliii'T  destruction  of  Daniasi-us  iiiijrlit  be  borne  out  by 
the  luinative.  If  it  be  said  that  tlie  fouitli  stichos  in  Amos  is 
an  addition,  then  thi'  elasinj;  proplu-tie  phrase  "saitli  Yahwe" 
is  left  hanjiiniir  in  tlie  air;  moreover  the  stiehos  in  (piestion  is 
itself  a  l)cautiful  and  euphonious  line,  worthy  of  the  best  i)ro- 
phetie  style.  In  Amos  9.7  the  eombination  ''>nhn  mC-Qir  seems 
to  sanetion  the  juxtaposition  of  the  two  names  in  stanza  1. 

In  support  of  the  hypothesis  that  the  fourth  stiehos  in 
Amos  is  u  later  insertion  on  the  basis  of  Kiii^rs,  it  nuiy  be 
aildueed  that  the  i)lirase  referred  to  in  i).7  either  makes  the 
stiehos  in  stanza  I  ille'iitimate.  or  is  itself  dubious.  "Aram  from 
Kir"  indicates  that  Kir  was  the  ancient  iiome  of  the  Arameans 
out  of  wiiich  tiod  broufrht  them,  as  He  did  Israel  out  of  Etrypt 
anil  Philistia  out  of  Crete.  Profe.s.s()r  Jlax  Mueller  objects  that 
"if  Kir  was  the  orijjinal  homi-  of  the  Arameans,  the  Assyrians 
would  never  have  deported  them  back  to  their  own  country 
where  they  would  have  found  remaindei-s  of  the  orijiinal  stock 
of  the  nation  and  would  by  union  with  them  become  stroufr 
a^rain."      He  su}r<;ests  that  l..")d  was  inserted  on  the  basis  of  9.7. 

Against  tin-  notion  that  the  plirase  waynagUhii  (Jinl  was 
interpolated  in  II  K.  1G.9  it  .seems  more  plausible  to  believe 
that  the  historian  would  remain  true  to  the  fact.s,  while  the 
Propliet  would  be  more  vajrue  and  ii(M?tically  indefinite,  and 
an  editor  would  adjust  the  prophecies  fj-  post  facto  to  the  actual 
events.  That  the  plirase  in  question  is  in.serted  so  abruptly  in 
the  middle  of  the  sentence  shows  that  it  was  written  in  the 
marjrin,  or  over  the  other  words,  and  that  a  later  copyist  em- 
bodied it  in  the  te.xt  proper.  Additional  evidence  for  the 
p-miinene.ss  of  the  line  in  Kings  may  be  found  in  II  K.  ir).29, 
where  the  writer  refers  to  the  punishment  of  Pekah  by  Tijjlath- 
Pileser:  "And  he  exiled  them  to  A.s-syria""  (imy-yai/hli'm 
'AshshfinD.  If  it  be  urged  that  the  line  in  Amos  is  authentic 
and  that  the  events,  as  he  prophesied  one  generation  earlier, 
actually  occurred,  it  nuiy  be  wiid  with  justice  that  this  accuracy 
is  in  itself  suspicious. 

[213] 


158  FaraUelism  in  Amos 

Anotlier  ground  for  conceiving  stichoi  b,  c,  d  as  later  inser- 
tions is  found  in  a  consideration  of  the  central  couplet,  b-c, 
which  evidently  seeks  to  express  the  idea  of  the  destruction  of 
DamasciLs  royalty.  In  II  K.  16.9  this  thought  is  expressed 
.speciticalh'  in  the  words:  "and  Kezin  he  slew,"  an  event  which 
took  place  in  the  .year  732  B.C.  iu  the  generation  immediately 
following  Amos.  Isaiah  refers  in  17.1-3,  dedicated  to  the  "bur- 
den of  Damascus,"  to  the  fact  that  "sovereignly  shall  cease 
from  Damascus."  This  prophecy  appears  to  have  been  written 
after  the  formation  of  the  Syro-Ephraimitish  alliance  between 
736  and  732  B.C.  Upon  the  foundation  of  these  two  passages, 
a  later  redactor  maj'  have  thought  it  necessary  to  include  the 
death  of  Kezin  in  the  prophecy  of  Amos.  Finding  close  at 
lumd  a  couplet  whicli  expressed  in  true  Amosian  language  this 
very  idea,  he  borrowed  it  bodily-  from  the  fourth  section  of 
stanza  2,  its  proper  location,  and  inserted  it  in  stanza  1,  regard- 
less of  the  disruption  of  the  parallelism,  the  omission  of  the 
original  words  of  the  Prophet,  and  the  repetition.  This  change 
may  have  been  made  when  tlie  event  was  still  fresh  in  the  mind 
of  the  nation,  perhaps  after  tlie  fall  of  Samaria  in  721,  or  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  century.  It  may  be  definitely  stated  then, 
tliat  the  central  couplet  is  out  of  jilace,  and  except  perhaps  for 
tlie  jiroper  names,  was  not  genuine  with  Amos. 

The  section  as  it  now  stands  in  need  of  emendation  may  be 
portrayed  graphically  as  follows: 

1.  The  three  stichoi,  b,  e,  and  d.  are  latrr  insertions:  this 
gives  as  the  only  extant  words  of  the  prophet  here : 
Ami  I  shall  break  the  bar  of  Damascus 


This  makes  necessary  the  suggestion  of  thi-ee  new  lines  to  fill 
tlie  gaj) :  one  parallel  to  a ;  two,  c  and  d,  parallel  to  each  other :  or 
2.  Merely  the  couplet  b-c  is  a  later  insertion : 
And   I   shall  break   the  bar  of  Damascus 


Ami   the  people   of  Aram   shall  go  into  exi' 
[214] 


I'unilklisn,  in  Amos  159 

Tliis  tlomaiiils  tin-  siilistituticdi  of  two  new  lines,  I)  paralli-l  to  a, 
uiiil  I-  paralltl  to  d ;  ami  the  at'ci'ptaiK'f  of  tin-  liypotliosis  that 
stichos  d  is  jji'iiuiiii'  with  Amos,  and  thi>  words  in  II  K.  16.9  a 
later  insi-rtiou. 

The  Hrst  eoui)let  may  be  reeonstiiutid  as  follows: 

u-'uhilbharti   b<Ti"x  Viimmisni 
u-'-dhal'thoth  liiii'uth'awtH   '"ghadtlt"' . 

And  I  will  brrnk  tlic  bar  of  Uaninsviiii, 

Ami  tlio  doors  of  Bikatli-Awon  I  will  licw  down. 

The  use  of  shubh/ir,  "break,"  with  deteth,  "door,"  is  found 
in  Gen.  19.9,  thoutrli  not  in  a  military  sense.  The  words  ddith 
and  b'n'\  are  found  to-rether  in  Dent.  3.5 ;  Is.  213. 7  ;  II  Chroii.  7.5  ; 
l\s.  1()7.1G;  Jer.  49.31;  Ez.  3S.11:  Is.  45.2;  Job  38.10;  II  Ch|;on. 
14.6.  They  oeeur  also  in  eouplets  in  perfect  paralleli.sm,  e.g. 
Jer.  45.2,  and  Ps.  107.16.  Otlu'r  su}r<;estions  are  slui'ar,  "fjate," 
in  eonjunetion  with  l)'n"x,  "bar."  as  in  the  jiarallel  e(>n])lets 
Lam.  2.9:  I's.  147.13;  Xa.  3.1.3;  x"»"'-  "wall."  used  in  eom- 
bination  with  b'n<'x.  Deut.  3.5;  II  Chron.  8.15,  14.6.  The  word 
}tnbh<;(ir,  "fortress,"  is  referred  to  in  II  K.  8.12,  wherein  Elisha 
ami  Ila/ael  eonverse,  and  may  be  used  here  on  the  jirinciple  of 
poetie  justiee.  The  jiarallelism  between  shablinr  and  (jt'idha' , 
"hew  down,"  or  "into  pieces,"  is  established  by  numerous 
usages;  they  are  used  as  .synonyms  in  two  perfectly  parallel 
eouplet.s,  I.s.  45.2  and  P.s.  17.16;  they  are  also  used  in  other 
parallelistie  couplets  but  without  exact  correspondence.  Varia- 
tions of  the  couplet  sufTfjested  above  are  jios-sible,  some  of  them 
e.xeliulinsr  the  name  of  ISiq'iith-'ihn  ii,  othei-s  alTecting  the  form 
of  (jiulhiV . 

For  the  second  couplet  the  following  n-eonst  met  ions  are 
suggested : 

1.  A  restoration  of  two  lines  for  the  second  couplet  can  be 
made  on  the  basis  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy  on  Danui-seus, 
49.23-27. 

H.-r  youths  shall  fall  in  th.'  strcot.t 
.\iiil  all  her  men  of  war  shall  be  silent. 

Since  Damascus  has  treated  Israel  barbarously,  it  will  be  ]i\in- 
ished  in  kind;  in  11.  K.  8.12  Ila7.a<-1  is  destined  to  "slay  youths 

[  2ir.  1 


160  raraUcUsw  in  Amus 

witli  the  sword. ■■  and  a  reference  in  Amos  to  the  same  punish- 
ment for  Damascus  on  the  principle  of  poetic  justice  would  be 
appropriate.  This  very  retribution,  indeed,  is  mentioned  in 
Jer.  49.26  in  the  oracle  on  Damascus,  which  shows  points  of 
striking  resemblance  to  Amos;  ver.se  27  is  an  almost. exact  dupli- 
cation of  the  punishment  formula  in  Amos  1.4;  Jeremiah  uses 
the  couplet  again  in  17.17,  21.14,  50.32.  The  possibility  of  a 
nexus  between  these  two  oracles  permits  the  assumption  that 
words  taken  out  of  Amos  may  in  another  text  have  remained, 
and  that  Jeremiah,  with  .slight  changes,  incorporated  them  into 
his  own  prophecy  on  Damascus. 

2.  A  restoration  of  one  line  and  the  retention  of  tlu'  proper 
name  may  be  found  in  this  suggestion : 
Her  youths  shall  fall  in  Beth-Eden, 
And  the  people  of  Aram  shall  go  into  exile  to  Kir. 
A  similar  grouping  of  the  idea  of  death  and  exile  is  found  in 
Amos  7.11  and  17.      Though  the  parallelism  here  is  not  close, 
the  synthetic  relationship  of  the  stiehoi  is  found  often  in  Amos. 
Another  suggestion  based  on  the  idea  of  exile  is  found  in  one 
of  the  many  forms  of  which  this  is  an  example : 

And  Beth-Eden  shall  go  into  captivity, 

And  the  people  of  Aram  shall  go  into  exile  to  Kir. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  urged  that  a  possible  reconstruction  of 

the  fourth  section  take  this  form : 

And  I  will  break  the  bar  of  Damascus, 

And  the  doors  of  Bikath-Awen  I  will  hew  down. 

Her  youths  shall  fall  in  Beth-Eden, 

And  the  people  of  Aram  .sliall  go  into  exile  to  Kir. 


The  oracle  on  Philistia  is  apparently  genuine  and  in  the 
main  original  with  Amos.  The  first  evidence  for  this  conclusion 
is  the  strophic  structure  of  the  stanza.  It  is  divided  into  1  + 
2-|-l-f2-l-4  +  l  periods,  after  the  manner  of  the  tirst 
stanza.  The  two  formulas  are  correct;  the  fourth  section 
consists  of  two  perfect  couplets  and  is  therefore  apparently  cor- 
rect and  genuine;  the  closing  phrase  varies  in  this  stanza  from 


[  216  ] 


ranilhlu^m  in  Anios  161 

all  otluTs,  U,v  it  lias  ••|iatli  my  L..nl  Yaliw.'-  sahl."  instead  of 
"liath-saiil  Yaliwt"',"  as  in  six  otlicr  I'ascs.  Tlic  most  iiiipurtaiit 
ilivt'r<:i'iuH'  frtuii  the  type  staii/a  is  in  tiie  seooiul  sfi-tiini : 

Hoi-nusf  tlu-y  Imvo  exiliul  a  tomplcti-  .•iii>tivity  to  dolivor  to  IMoin. 
Till'   line  is  fvidently  corrupt   bfi-aiise   it    is  a  loiijr  [irosc   iiiio, 
wlicre  two  lines  in  h  couplet  are  needed;  its  nieaninjr  is  doubt- 
ful ;  it  is  repeated  almost  identically  in  stanza  3,  section  2. 

Stiinzu  2.     'ill   liaphU'itUiim   giiluth   sU'Winu   I'hosiiir  l<-'<ilh''ii». 

ytniizji   II.     '<i/   luisffiriim   iiuliith  slflimti  («■■  "''d/iiOni. 

The  followinf:  probabilities  exist:  (a)  The  stichos  may  beloiij: 
in  stanza  2  and  must  be  emended  to  form  a  couplet:  this  would 
entail  the  omission  of  the  similar  stichos  in  stanza  3.  (b)  The 
stichos  in  stanza  2  is  out  of  place,  necessitatin};  the  substitution 
of  a  couplet  on  an  approi)riate  theme;  this  omission  would 
sanction  the  retention  of  the  similar  stichos  in  stanza  '.i.  (c) 
The  stichos  in  stanza  2  is  a  lat<'r  substitution  based  on  events 
which  followed  the  time  of  Amos  and  which  a  later  redactor 
inserted,  even  as  he  tampered  with  the  text  of  stanza  1.  This 
decision  would  either  affect  stanza  .$  in  the  same  way.  or  would 
leave  open  the  (piestion  of  the  appropriateness  of  th<'  stichos 
there  on  its  own  merits. 

In  defense  of  tlu-  present  text,  the  following  material  may 
be  broiifrht  to  bear:  the  event  to  which  Amos  refers  nuiy  be  the 
attack  mentioned  in  II  Chron.  21.1fttT.  Durinj,'  the  rei-rn  of 
Jehoram  051-S43  a.c.)  the  Aral>s  and  the  Philistines  raided 
Judah.  and  "they  came  up  into  Judah  an<l  brake  into  it.  and 
cjirried  away  all  the  substance  that  was  found  in  the  kinjr's 
hotise,  and  his  sons  al.so.  and  his  wivis.  save  Jehoahaz.  the 
youngest  of  his  sons"  (the  Book  of  Kings  nnikes  no  mention 
of  this  raid  and  it  is  uncertain  whether  it  ever  took  place). 
The  deserii)tion  of  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  marauders 
made  their  captures  leads  to  the  supposition  that  this  might  be 
the  "complete  cajitivity"  referred  to  in  Amos.  In  stanza  1, 
Amas  seems  to  have  taken  the  offense  from  the  days  of  Ilazael, 
immediatply  following  this  event.  It  may  perhaps  be  that  he 
turiis  back  to  the  reign  of  Jehoahaz  for  the  historical  data  on 
which  to  found  the  offen.se  of  Philistia.      In  order  to  retain  the 


217] 


162  ParaUcUsiii  in  Amos 

text  in  its  present  form,  the  following  arrangements  may  be 
suggested : 

Because  they  have  exiled  a  complete  captivity 

To   deliver   up  to   Edom. 

This  follows  the  analogy  of  stanza  5,  where  "in  order  that"  is 
used  in  the  second  stichos  in  the  same  way  that  "to"  is  used 
here  in  the  sense  of  "in  order  that";  but  this  is  not  parallelism. 

Another  arrangement  can  be  devised  by  taking  over  word 
for  word  the  couplet  forming  the  second  section  of  stanza  3. 
But  the  only  passages  in  support  of  the  idea  of  a  covenant  be- 
tween Philistia  and  Israel  occur  in  Gen.  21.27,  32  and  26.28; 
and  these  afford  little  substantiation  for  the  change  suggested. 

In  searching  further  for  an  explanation  of  the  stichos  under 
discussion,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  second  section  in  stanza  2 
is  appari'utly  late.  It  is  not  plausible  that  Amos  would  refer 
to  a  border  raid  participated  in  not  merely  by  Philistines,  but 
by  Arabs  as  well,  as  the  basis  for  his  fierce  denunciation.  More- 
over at  the  time  of  Amos,  II  Chron.  26.6-7  apparently  shows 
that  Philistia  was  under  the  domination  of  Judah.  King  Uzziah 
(782-737  B.C.),  during  whose  reign  Amos  was  active,  "went 
forth  and  warred  against  the  Philistines  and  brake  down  the 
wall  of  Gath,  and  the  wall  of  Jabneh,  and  the  wall  of  Ashdod, 
and  he  built  cities  in  the  country  of  Ashdod  and  among  the 
Philistines.  And  God  helped  him  against  the  Philistines,  and 
against  the  Arabians  that  dwelt  in  Gur-baal  and  the  Mchunim." 
Tliis  text  is  important.  It  would  seem  that  Amos  must  have 
directed  his  prophecy  ag'ainst  Philistia  before  the  success  of 
Uzziah,  for  it  may  well  be  asked:  "\\niy  should  the  Prophet 
predict  doom  for  a  nation  already  doomed?"  Moreover  it  was 
the  king  of  Amos'  own  home  who  accomplished  their  subjuga- 
tion. To  this  might  be  answered  that  Amos  prophesied  against 
Philistia  in  the  light  of  the  attack  which  he  knew  Uzziah  con- 
templated, and  in  order  to  find  a  justification  for  Uzziah 's  war 
he  harked  back  to  the  attacks  by  the  Philistines  and  Arabs  more 
than  a  century  before.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  more  likely 
that  Amos,  or  perhaps  a  later  redactor,  would  denounce  Philis- 
tia at  a  time  when  it  tormented  Israel.  -  . 

[218] 


rarallrlisni  in  Antus  163 

Till'  liostility  of  I'liilistia  lu'coiiu's  appainit  immediatoly 
after  tlu-  dt-atli  of  Amos.  Duiinsi  the  ivi^'ii  of  Aliaz  of  .huhili 
(T.{')-7ir)  u.r.)  tlie  I'liilistiiu-s  bocoini-  inimifal  and  sia-ei'S-sful. 
in  II  Cliron.  L'S.1(>-19  oitui-s  a  pii-tun'  of  the  distress  of  Judah  : 
"For  ajrain  tlie  Eiloinites  liad  eonie  and  smitten  Judah  and 
carried  away  eaptives.  Tlie  Pliilistines  also  had  invailed  llie 
eities  of  the  low  country,  anil  of  the  south  tif  .hulah...." 
Thoufjh  this  passage  is  douhtful,  it  nu-ntions  the  activities  of 
Etioni  and  I'hilistia  apparently  in  union;  and  thou<;h  Edom  is 
here  rrferreil  to  as  the  captive  maker,  I'hilistia,  too,  uuiy  i)e 
rejrariled  as  an  invader  and  slave-trailer.  Additional  evi- 
dence for  the  hypothesis  that  the  historical  hackjrround  for  the 
offeuse  of  Philistia  may  lie  in  the  {jeneration  immediately  follow- 
inp  Amos  (as  is  tiie  case  in  the  central  couplet  in  stanza  1, 
.section  4),  is  found  in  Is.  9.11,  where  the  I'roiihet  mentions 
■"Syria  on  the  East  and  Philistia  on  the  West";  11.14  showiujir 
Philistia "s  hostility;  14.28-.'52,  deliv.-red  after  the  death  of  Ahaz. 
and  pointin;:  to  the  hitterness  between  the  two  nations.  This 
ennuty  nuiy  have  {riven  rise  to  a  revision  of  Amos'  prophecy 
in  order  to  nuike  it  more  specitic  and  in  line  witii  events  after 
its  delivery. 

A  .second  sufrjiestion  is  that  the  prophecy  on  Philistia  was 
revised  in  IIm-  light  of  the  text  of  Jeremiah.  Jer.  l:J.19  and 
the  oracle  in  Jer.  47.1-7  show  several  affinities  with  the  text  of 
Amos  which  will  he  remarki-d  in  a  discu.ssion  of  the  fourth 
section  helow. 

A  third  suggistiou  is  that  tin'  prophecy  was  remothlh'd  in 
post-exilic  days.  Ezek.  2o.ir)-17  proclaims  the  offense  of  Philistia 
as  perpitual  hatnd  (see  helow,  on  Edom),  and  cxidtation  at  the 
downfall  of  Judah  in  .5.S6  i«.c.  Thouph  the  sin  of  the  nation 
differs  from  that  mentioned  in  AmiKS,  yet  the  similarity  of  lan- 
puajjc  in  the  fourth  seetion  appears  to  demonstrate  an  inHuenee 
of  Amos  on  Ezekiel  or  vice  versa.  Zeph.  2.4-7  and  Z<ch.  9.5-8 
state  no  offense,  though  the  language  of  the  latter  again  points 
to  borrowings  from  Amos.  Joel  4.4-8  refers  to  the  activities 
of  the  Philistines  as  slave-traders  in  company  with  the  Tyrians; 
Edom  is  not  mentioned  (see  below,  on  Tvre).     But  iiulcss  it  is 


164  PaniUdism  in  Amos 

admitted  fliat  the  ))i'oplieoy  in  Amos  on  Pliilistia  is  in  part  at 
least  piist-exilie,  it  is  dangerons  to  find  any  intlnenc-e  of  the  Joel 
text  on  the  revision  of  Amos,  for  it  wonld  place  the  final  recast- 
ing- of  Amos  around  the  year  350  B.C. 

Possible  emendations  of  this  text  are  not  so  numerous  as  in 
stanza  1. 

1.  Because  they  have  exiled  a  complete  captivity, 
And  delivered  them  into  tlie  hand  of  the  enemy. 

The  phrase  "into  the  hand  of  the  enemj'"  occurs  with  hisglr 
in  Lam.  2.7,  and  in  a  figurative  sense  in  Ps.  31.9. 

2.  Because  they  have  exiled  a  complete  captivity, 
And  delivered  the  people  to  the  sword. 

This  is  based  on  Ps.  78.62,  wherein  a  perfect  couplet  occurs  with 
this  idiom,  though  the  second  stichos  has  no  jioints  of  comparison 
with  the  Amos  text. 

A  second  group  of  emendations  is  based  ujion  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  word  sdf/lmr  as  meaning  "shut  nji"  with  reference 
not  to  individuals  but  to  cities.  Josh.  6.1  refers  to  Jericho  as 
soghereth  ri-m<^sug<jrrii]i.  "straitly  shut  up'":  in  Jer.  l:].19 
occurs  the  significant  couplet : 

The  cities  of  the  South  are  shut  up;   and  there  is  none  to  open; 
Judah   is  exiled,   all   of   it;    an   exile   of   peaceful   ones    (a  complete 
exile). 

This  edui.let  is  in  perfect  <jin<l  iiarallelism.  Tiie  phrasi'  h„,ihl,iih 
sh' h'liiihii  is  emended  by  many  to  read  in  eonformance  with  tlie 
Amos  text,  (iilhltli  sh'h'iiHl.  Tlie  Sei)tnagint  offers  the  weightiest 
evidence  fur  this  change,  for  it  has  tlie  w(jrds  "complete  cap- 
tivity" in  the  Ureek,  whereas  in  the  Amos  passage  it  reads  for 
both  stanzas  2  and  3  "the  captivity  of  Solomon."  This  shows 
that  the  Septuagint  tran.slators  did  not  read  the  phrase  on  the 
basis  of  Amos,  which  they  understood  wrongly,  but  solely  be- 
cause they  possesse^l  a  clear  text  in  Jeremiah.  The  fact  that 
Jei-emiah  does  not  use  this  coujilct  in  a  lu-oiihecy  on  the  Philis- 
tines nuiy  be  ground  for  the  belief  that  lie  borrowed  ilie  jtlirase 
from  Amos,  rather  than  that  a  later  redactor  copied  it  from 
Jeremiah.  For  the  later  editor  would  in  all  probability  turn 
to  Jeremiah's  prophecy  on  Philistia  for  terminology  antl  ideas 
on    wliieh    tn    I'ebuild    the    Amos    text  ;    whereas    tlie    couiilet    in 


I'linillrlism   in   Amos  IG') 

(lUi'stion  (ifcui-s  ill  Jcri'iiiiali  in  an  entirely  (litVen-nt  (•Kiiiicclinn. 
It  may  !)«•,  liowcvcr,  that  a  liw  words  in  Amos  sufr^'istcil  the 
•loiTmianii-  i-oiiplet ;  thoivforo  n-f^'arclless  of  its  position,  it  may 
hnvt'  served  as  tlie  liusis  for  a  readinj;  of  Amos.  Data  in  favor 
of  a  roeonstruftioii  of  tin*  Amos  line  on  the  jiroundwork  of  the 
Jeremiah  couplet  may  be  found  in  the  use  in  stiehos  a  in  Jere- 
miah of  a  form  of  sdi/luir  and  in  stiehos  b,  a  form  of  hixjhUith 
sh'loimiu  or  (jdlfith  sh'li'iiid.  A  faet  ajraiiist  this  mauiinilatioii 
is  that  Jeremiah.  a.s  the  Joshua  text  also,  (juite  properly  speaks 
of  the  shuttiiifr  up  of  eities  first,  and  then  of  eaptivity,  or  deliv- 
ery: while  in  Amos  the  order  is  reversed:  liem-e  if  tlie  text 
is  made  to  apply  to  eities,  it  would  be  illo)_'ieal.  For  purjiose.s 
of  sujrsrestion,  however,  these  formations  nuiy  be  written  down: 
3.  Bccniisv  tlu'.v  linve  oxiloil  a  complete  captivity. 
To  ilflivor  tlicm  up,  with  noiio  to  free. 

'ci(  hapblothi^m  gitlCtth  gh'U'mii 

{''■himqir  Wh'i ' yiihatfx'i- 
This  entails  merely  the  addition  of  the  jihrasi'  'and  not  open.*' 
or  ■■free."  whieh  in  Jeremiah  refers  to  eities.  but  iiia.\-  here  be 
takiii  to  refer  to  the  eajitivity.      The  form  I' ■luisijir  may  beeome 
tnin-naxi/irfi,  "and  they  delivered." 

Another  jrroup  of  sugjrestioiis  may  rest  upon  the  idea  of 
■eomplete  eaptivity"  in  phra.ses  sueli  as  kol  Juish-sh'bhi  (Amos 
4.10.  9.14:  Jer.  :{().16),  kol  ha{/-ijr.ld  (Jer.  2S.6,  •29.4,  20.  :!!  ;  Ezek. 
G.20),  but  these  are  unsatisfaetory  not  merely  on  the  •.'round  of 
seii.se,  but  also  because  of  the  lateness  of  the  phrases. 
i.  Bpcnuso  tlicy  oxiloil  a  complete  captivitv. 

And  <Icli\-ori'<l  up  tho  city  and  its  content.s. 

'at  haphliilhum  galiilh  «/■''{/' mii 
uittiyiiairirii  '\r  ii-m'h'i'uh. 

This  is  based  upon  Amos  6.8:  "And  I  will  deliver  up  the  city 
and  its  contents,"  u'hisijtirU  'ir  fi-m'ld'dh.  Doubt  is  thrown 
on  tlie  vei-se  in  its  pasition  in  chapter  6  because  the  Septuajjint 
has  the  (iretk  ei|iiivnleiit  for  the  Hebrew  whikhralt),  "and  I 
will  cut  off":  moreover,  the  verse  is  out  of  jilace:  it  has  no  com- 
plementary stiehos:  it  is  followed  by  verses  9-10,  a  prose  piece 
in  preat  confusion  of  lanpiiape  and  thought :  transposed  to  chap- 

[221] 


]CM  I'anillrlisiii  ill  Amos 

U'v  1  it  makes  u  couplet  in  vviiicli  tlic  syininymity  is  (iiiitc  (•los(>, 
and  tiic  parallelism  is  good. 

All    tliesc    sug-gestions,     lidwevrr,     have    omitted     the    word 
l,-'<,lhoni,  ••to   K.loiii.-'      It   lias  Ikmmi  aftiniird  tli;il   this  is  a  gloss 

at  the  time  of  the  destnietioii  of  the  Temple  (see  discussion  of 
stanza  li.  .Mitchell  in  his  ,'nmmentary  on  Zeehariah  (p.  237), 
suggests  that  the  phrases  "tn  di'li\cr  them  to  Edam"  in  verse  6 
and  "to  Edom"  in  verse  1)  are  expianatoi'v  glosses  suggested 
by  Ezek.  :{:).:>;  this  would  hn.l  \vi-ht  to  llie  i(h-a  that  the  line 
was   reworked    after    the    Kxile.       jiiit    it    may    he    that,    Ir   ''illiniii 

is  a  corruption    for  a    word   which    w.uild    ph the   line   in   good 

couplet  lorm,  and  givi'  a  kind  of  syncjuymity  ;  it  will  be  seen 
liehiw  that  the  word  "Kdom"  in  stanza  (i  nnist  !,.■  emcmle.l  to 
a  form  'inlhrnn,  '■man'':  eitluM-  kiil  '•'ulhniii,  "every  human 
licin--'  ..r  k„l  h,i^'"illi,iiii,i.  ■■all    the   laud,"   mav   hav,"   been   th.' 


HiTiiiisc  tlicy  liavo  exiled  a  complete  captivity, 

Ti)  ililiviT  uji  all  the  land   (or  every  liiiman  being). 

•<//   li,i;ililnt)„-im    ,i„l,-,lli    xl,' 1,-1,1,1. 

!■ -luix.fir   I.,, I   ,i,lli,'ui,    (cr   /.„/   I„i   y ,ll„~, ma  ] . 

Whatever  he  the  decision  on  the  value  of  these  suggestions,  tlu'y 
sid'licc  to  show  that  the  line  in  its  present  fcu'm  is  untenahh';  the 
ivsloration    of   iiai-allelist  ic   couplet    structure,    lliouuh    the   exact 


The    fourth    s( 

■■■lion 

of 

st; 

inza    •! 

couta 

ins    two 

con 

parallelism,  the  li 

i-st   of 

wh 

ich 

is  rc]i. 

atrd    il 

1  stanza 

1.  a 

insertion.     The  si 

ight   V 

ari: 

Itioi 

1  in  tie 

■  closii 

ig   postll 

ide    p 

phrase  has  alivad 

y  l.e,.i 

11    u. 

ote( 

1.     Cnm 

pariso 

lis   whie 

Il     Sll( 

ling  points  of  si 

inilari 

\\ 

he    ma 

de    wi- 

111    vari.i 

.us    p 

passages.     Amos 

reads: 

r,ir,ilhlism  in  Amos  Hi7 

Jcr.  47.4  fiiiituiiis  tiriiis  and  jjlirascs  similar  to  Aiiuts: 
Bwauao  of  the  day  that  comoth  to  spoil  nil  tlio  rhili8tiiii'.s, 
To  I'ut  off  from  Tyre  ami  Ziiloii  ovory  hi-lpcr  that   remaiueth. 

Kor  tho  Lord  will  spoil  the  I'hilistiia's, 

The  remiiniit  of  tho  isle  of  Caphtor. 
Tlie  ooniparisoiis  with  Ezok.  'i'l.lG,  ii  part  of  a  eliapttM-  wliiuli 
sliows  rtsiiul)laiu'ts  to  Amos  in  point  of  stanza  airaii'li'mtiit, 
rt'pt'tilion  of  propliotic  formulas  and  other  iiuitlfs,  arc  cinially 
strikinj;:  iiion  over  in  vci-sis  tJ,  8,  12,  14  of  this  scriis,  Kzikid 
usi's  tlu-  phrase  "hath-said  Adlionai-Yalnve. " 

Therefore  thus  saith  tho  Lord,  Ood : 

BohoKl  I  will  stretch  out  my  haud  upon  tho  Philistines, 

And  I  will  out  off  the  C'herethini, 

And  destroy  tho  remuant  of  the  sea  coast, 
ill  Zcph.  2.4-7  the  most  important  likeness  is  the  stiehos:  "and 
1  shall  destroy  you  to  beeome  without  iidiabitant " ;  Zeeli.  i).r)-S. 
too,  shows  reseiublanees  whieli  have  often  been  noted  i  .Mitclull, 
ICC.  266-267 K  partieularly  at  the  end  of  verse  5  and  the  whole 
of  verse  G: 

And  a  kinK  shall  cease   from  luiza, 

And   Ashkelon  .shall  not  he  inhahited. 

And  a  bastard  shall  nde  in  Ashdod. 

Anil  I  will  cut  off  the  pride  of  the  Philistines. 

Hid  the  te.xt  of  Amos  fall  under  the  infliienee  of  this  jJiussajre 
thron(;h  a  later  redaetor.  or  did  Zeehariah  imitate  Amos?  The 
sentenee  on  the  "bastard,"  aeeordinjr  to  Mitchell,  refers  "to 
the  deterioration  of  the  jjopulation  of  Palestine  durin)!  and  after 
the  captivity,  as  pictured  in  Neh.  i:i.2:?fT.,  or  the  mixed  char- 
acter of  the  people  with  whom  the  country  had  been  colonized 
by  its  con(|uerors. "  It  is  fairly  certain  that  Zeehariah  bor- 
rowed from  Amos,  not  in  slavish  imitation,  however,  but  with 
subtle  variations  which  difTerentiated  his  work  from  that  of  his 
pri'deces-sor. 

It  may  then  be  concluded  with  some  (le«,'ree  nf  surety  that 
while  (a)  the  first  couplet  is  jienuinely  the  work  of  Amos,  (b) 
the  second  couplet   has  to  .some  extent   been   iiiHuenced  by  the 

(  223  1 


IGS  ranilldisiii  in  Amos 

material  of  Ezok.  25.  One  i)r(il.alnlit.v  is  tliat  tlic  sicoiid  vmipM 
and  the  closing  phrase  are  laic,  timujiii  this  woulil  entail  tlie 
same  eonehisioii  with  vi'tVrcncc  to  the  second  couplet  in  the 
t'oui-tii  sections  of  the  othei-  stanzas.  A  second  and  more  de- 
fensible decision  is  that  the  closing  words  'dmar  'Hllumal  Yuhivc 
were  inserted  because  of  the  similarity  of  the  Amos  couplet  to 
the  Ezekiel  passages.  This  would  justify  the  entire  fourth 
section,  and  would  show  the  rea.son  for  the  deviation  of  the  clos- 
ing phrase  to  be  the  same  a.s  that  for  which  the  word  w^-hi<;<;att't 
ill  stanza  5  deviates  from  ir' -shillii\fl  of  the  otlicr  stanzas;  i.e., 
not  "symmetrophobia,"  but  the  wliim  or  carelessness  of  a  later 
redactor,  who  probably  was  led  by  the  likenesses  between  two 
passages  to  make  changes  in  one  to  conform  to  the  other.  Tliis 
interplay  of  influence  seems  general  in  the  edition  of  texts  In- 
later  compilers,  to  whom  the  question  of  iii-iorit\-  of  texts  seems 
to  have  been  of  no  importaiu-e. 

St.vnza  3.— Tvke 

Tlie  oracle  on  Tyre  (lis])lays  eharacteristies  wliieh  mark  it 
off  distinctly  from  the  otlier  stanzas.  As  it  now  stands,  the 
fourth  section  together  with  the  closing  prophet  ie  ])hi-ase  is 
missing;  and  the  first  stichos  of  the  second  section  is  a  rei)etition 
of  the  second  section  in  stanza  2. 

The  oracle  might  be  regarded  as  genuine  on  the  <:rouiul  of 
the  following  data:  (a)  The  second  section  contains  a  couplet 
apparent!}'  in  good  paralh'lism,  as  the  type  stanza  demands.  To 
retain  this  couplet  would,  of  course,  entail  the  omission  of  the 
section  in  stanza  2,  where  an  almost  bald  repetition  of  the 
phrases  and  thought  is  visible ;  to  make  the  whole  stanza  con- 
form to  type  would  demand  the  acceptance  of  the  supposition 
that  the  fourth  section  has  for  some  unaccountable  reason 
dropped  out,  and  hence  must  be  supplied  from  data  contempo- 
rarj'  with  or  before  Amos,  (b)  The  historical  situation  between 
Tyre  and  Judah  seems  to  point  to  the  authenticity  of  the  stanza. 
Tlie  brotherly  covenant  to  whieii  Amos  refers  may  be  the  one 
uienlioned  in  I  K.  "i.'ifi  between  Hiram  and  Solomon.  Iliram 
calls  Sohnnon   -'brother"  also   in   I   K.   5.1ff.   9.1:.),   Iti.:',!  ;   II   S. 


ranilltlisin  in  Amos  Itift 

0.11  (swalso  I  K.  7.13;  1  (."lirim.  14.1;  11  Cliroii.  li.li,  11).  Th.-.sc 
frii'iuUy  ivlutions  eoiitimu'tl  i-spi-iMiilly  during  the  time  of  tlif 
nival  unions  witli  Tyrian  nobility;  at  the  time  of  Eli.sha  and 
Klijali,  ivsiiltin«r  foiri'in  idolatries  lieeanie  the  subjeet  of  sliarp 
dcnnneiation.  A  \;a\)  in  the  iiistorieul  n'eords  is  responsilile 
for  the  laek  of  information  as  to  the  lime  when  jxilitieal  hostility 
lii'twern  the  two  nations  bejian.  In  Is.  'Jii.l-U  neeiirs  an  oraeh- 
on  Tyre,  ilelivercd  apparently  around  722  ii.c. ;  this  indieates 
the  attention  wliieh  the  Prophets  inunediately  followinjr  Amos 
pail!  to  Tyre;  and  it  mijiht  lie  presumed  that  Amos  also  may 
have  ineludid  thini  in  the  round  of  his  utteranees. 

Hut  the  evidenee  aj^ainst  the  authentieity  of  the  oraele  is 
more  plausible,  and  it  nuiy  be  presumed  that  the  stanza  is  late. 
(a>  The  strophie  .strueture  is  2  -f  2  -f-  2 ;  the  omi.ssion  of  the 
fourth  seetion  aiul  the  postludi'  makes  the  stanza  the  shmti'si 
iif  the  whole  series,  f<ir  in  the  other  oraeles  wherein  tiie  fourth 
sietion  is  inissiiif: — i.e.,  stanza  4  on  Edom,  and  stanza  7  on 
•Iiidah — there  is  found  in  tlu'  .seeond  seetion  an  additional  par- 
alh'listie  eouplet.  (Ii)  As  Harper  points  out.  the  oraele  adds 
no  new  thonjrht  to  the  series.  The  formulas  are  n-iieated  ;  only 
one  eity  is  named,  namely,  Tyre,  neither  Sidon  nor  the  other 
larfre  eities  of  the  kiiijjdom  reeeiviufj  attention.  The  same 
eharjre  as  ajjainst  the  I'hilistiius  is  levelled  a>rainst  Tyre;  the 
only  new  stiehos  introdueed  is  the  line  on  the  brotherly  eovenant. 
(e)  "If  the  •;eojrraphieal  order  prevailed  as  elsewhere  from 
.\orth  to  South,  verses  9-11  would  have  preceded  verses  6-8" 
I  Harper,  p.  28).  (d)  The  historical  data  do  not  afford  suf- 
tieient  evidenee  in  support  of  the  authentieity  of  the  oraele,  in 
view  of  the  events  whieh  followed  the  lifetime  of  Anios.  The 
Prophet  seems  here  to  think  that  the  violation  of  the  brotherly 
eovennnt  is  a  sin;  but  if  the  alliaiu-e  l)et\veen  Tyre  and  Israel 
was  abhorrent  to  the  Prophets,  it  is  not  likely  that  they  would 
be  an^rered  if  this  covenant,  jjrovided  it  ever  existed,  were 
broken.  Hence  it  would  appear  that  stiehos  b  of  the  secoiul 
.section  is  not  ori(;inal  with  Amos. 

The  lonp  suecession  of  prophecies  ajrainst  Tyre  whieh  i.ssue 
from  the  sueces-sors  of  Amos  indicates  that  a  later  redactor  in- 


170  J'anilhlisiii  ill  Amos 

s.Ttrd  this  orade  in  Ames.  Tlic  (Icmni.-ial ion  hy  Isaiah,  23.1-14, 
iiiiiy  he  rctroartivf  in  its  witiirss  to  a  Imstility  between  Tyre 
aiul  -ludah  at  the  tiinr  of  Anids;  Imt  it  is  iu(,rc  pn)hal)lc  that 
tlie  Amos  stanza  was  iiit  iMclin'cd  a1  thr  time  of  Isaiaii.  as  was 
the  ease  with  srvei-al  wonis  and  stiehoi  in  stanzas  1  and  2.  The 
Isaianie  i)i-i,]ihecy  is  placed  hy  (!i-ay  (ICC,  p.  386)  after  the 
"long  siege  to  which  Tyre  wa.s  sul).ieelcd  liy  Shalmaneser "'  (727- 
722  i!.(\)  ;  Isaiah  mentions  no  off'ense  hy  Tyi-e  ai;ainst  .Indah. 
It  has  already  been  stiggesteil  that  scjine  coiuieetion  may  exist 
lirlwr,.,,  thr  (irarles  of  .len'miah  and  tliesc  of  Amos;  -lereniiah 
mentions  Tyre  in  IT).:;-:  and  '21.:',.  hnt  dedicates  to  it  no  special 
Song.  If  it  he  hclicvcd  that  .Icivmiah  wrote  with  a  te.xt  of 
Amos  lief(,rc  him.  it  may  lie  snrndsed,  then,  that  one  text  was 
revised  hy  a  rcdactoi'  after  721)  n.c.  around  tlie  time  of  Isaiah's 
acti\il.\  :  lull  that  -leremiah  |iossessed  a  text  nnrevised  and  gen- 
uine with  Amos.  A  third  edition  may  have  licen  made  on  the 
basis  of  tiiese  two  texts,  coinhining  them  into  one  (see  eonehi- 
sioiis  below  t. 

Or  since  H/.ekiel.  ciiaps.  2(1  2S,  contains  a  long  and  brilliant 
oracle  against  Tyre  which  oiaginatcd  around  :)7(l  n.e..  appaivntly 
during  an  era  when  T.\iv  was  at  the  height  of  its  ])rosperity, 
the  Amos  oivndc  may  have  been  add.',!  at  this  date.  .loci  4.4-8, 
too,  ofl'i'i-s  significant  I'vidi'iicc.  .loel  speaks  of  the  slavery 
acliviti(s  of  both  Phoenicia  and  Philistia;  but  in  the  place 
of  Ivlom,  as  in  Amos,  the  countries  of  .lavaii  f(Treeee)  and 
the  Sal.acans  liguiv;  the  ncipimts  of  the  slavis  whom  the 
I'hoeiiicians  s,dl  ar.'  the  (Irccks  (.se,.  Kzek.  27.1:!  i.  I'x'wer  iJCC. 
p.  P'.Dir.  I  stat(s  that  these  vcrs(  s  in  .lo<'l  were  written  with  ref- 
erence to  the  behavior  (jf  the  Persians  under  Artaxerxes  Ochus. 
around   :l.'')2   n.c.  :  the  writer  added   tlesc  verses  on  the  behavior 

special  condemnation.  They  were  the  slave-t leaders  and  mer- 
chants to  whom  the  Persian  soldiei's  had  sold  their  captives  and 
their  hooly." 

On  the  (piestiou,  then,  of  the  oll'ense  in  Amos,  the  following 
])robalhlities  an-  suggest cd  :   (a  i  The  redactor  may  have  inserted 


I'ltrnllilisiti  in  Amos  171 

to  liiid  the  tlioufjlit  that  it  ori^'inatrd  witii  Amos,  (li)  Tiic 
iH'dai'tor  may  liavi-  liascd  tin'  otTcnsi'  on  K/.fk.  127. IH  (see  above)  ; 
Eduiii  is  not  iiu'iitioiied  iiere,  however,  luit  Javaii  (as  in  .loei 
4.4-8),  and  it  would  therefore  he  iieeessary  to  rey:ard  the  jilirase 
h-'ulhom  in  Amos  as  a  jrloss.  (e)  The  otVense  eoiipii't  may 
have  been  ehanjjed  later  on  the  basis  of  .loel  4.4-S,  thoti'ih  the 
outline  of  the  oraele  iiuiy  date  from  tlie  time  either  of  Isaiah, 
or  Ezekiel. 

A  wonl  must  be  .said  on  the  disposition  <if  the  second  stiehos 
of  the  seeond  seetion:  "And  they  remembered  not  tiie  covenant 
of  brothei-s."  In  defense  of  its  authenticity  it  nuiy  be  ur;:ed  : 
it  is  ill  a  pood  eouplet,  tlioii<rli  the  synonymity  between  the  lines 
is  not  close;  on  tiie  jieneral  prineijjle  that  exeejit  on  rare 
oeeasioiis  it  is  unwise  to  disturb  a  parallelistie  eouidet,  the 
temptation  to  throw  the  vei-se  out  must  be  cheeked  until  further 
examination;  furthermore  the  literary  (piality  of  the  stiehos  is 
jjood ;  it  consists  of  the  customary  three  members.  Hut  a<;aiiist 
the  lej.fitimaey  of  tin-  stiehos  many  arguments  may  be  advanced. 
It  is  improbable  that  Amos  referred  back  to  the  days  of  Solomon 
to  secure  an  historical  reference,  in  view  of  the  events  in  the 
intercourse  between  the  two  nations  which  had  occurred  since 
the  division  of  the  kintrdom.  The  vei-se  also  has  the  wortl  ('i\hu, 
which  repeats  the  wonl  uxhr  of  stanza  4.  The  stiehos  is  not 
needed  in  Edimi's  oracle,  because  already  two  superfluous  stiehoi 
are  present  there,  and  moreover  it  will  be  seen  that  the  prophecy 
on  Edom  appears  to  be  late.  It  cannot  be  placed  in  the  second 
section  of  the  .Tiidali  stanza  for  the  same  and  other  reasons. 
The  second  section  on  the  Ammonites  cannot  contain  it  because 
two  stiehoi  are  already  i>reseiit ;  there  is  no  reference  to  an 
alliance  either  with  Pliili.stia,  Moab,  or  Israel;  it  would  be  in- 
appropriate in  the  .weoiid  section  of  stanza  1,  for  the  passatfcs 
oil  the  alliance  between  Aliab  and  Heiihadad,  1  K.  li().:J4,  and 
between  Syria  and  Israel,  I  K.  l.").l!)  and  II  Cliroii.  l(i.:i.  are 
insufficient  to  fonn  substantiation  for  the  transposition  in  the 
face  of  other  weakne.s.ses  of  parallelism  and  seii.se. 

The  tiiial  and  most  plausible  snppestion  for  the  presence  of 
the  verse  is  tliat  it  is  a  variant  reailinp  of  the  stiehos  'nl  ntilh'^pho 


172  PiiraUcUsiii  in  Amos 

ba-xerehh  'axhc.''hccauiie  he  pursued  with  tlie  sword  his  brother," 
in  stanza  4  on  Edoni ;  its  presence  in  the  margin  or  above  the 
line  may  liave  furnished  tlie  hiter  redactor  with  a  stichos  out 
of  wliicii  to  form  a  distich  in  the  second  section  of  the  prophecy 
which  he  constructed  in  order  to  secure  an  oracle  presumably 
frciHi  Amos;  a  combination  with  a  stichos  from  stanza  2  made 
a  distich,  and  hence  gave  the  oracle  a  flavor  of  genuineness.  But 
whatever  may  have  been  the  process  by  which  it  attained  its 
present  status,  it  seems  quite  certain  that  it  did  not  proceed 
from  Amos. 

Hence  in  conclusion  it  may  be  affirmed  that  the  prophecy 
on  Tyre  is  late.  It  may  have  been  introduced  either  after 
720  B.C.  or  after  570  B.C. ;  possibly  it  was  interpolated  at  the 
first  date  and  reworked  after  the  second;  moreover,  after 
350  B.C.  it  may  have  once  more  been  retouched.  This  would 
tend  to  sliow  that  three  editions  of  the  entire  Doom  Song  were 
made. 

Stanz.v  4. — Edii.m 

Edom  plays  an  important  rrle  in  the  Doom  Song,  for  it  is 
mentioned  four  times,  once  in  connection  witli  the  slave  trade 
of  Pliilistia,  once  in  connection  witli  the  shive  trade  of  Tyre, 
once  as  the  victim  of  lloab's  offense  in  stanza  6,  and  again  as 
the  theme  of  stanza  4.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  this  oracle 
is  late ;  it  is  supposed  to  date  from  exilic  or  post-exilic  times. 

The  first  point  to  show  the  lateness  of  this  stanza  is  its 
strophic  structure.  The  number  of  stiehoi  is  1  +  2  +  4  +  2, 
as  in  stanza  7  on  Judah.  Tlie  sceond  siction  contains  two 
couplets  where  only  one  is  needed  fm'  the  type  stanza.  The 
fourth  section  with  the  pro]ihetii'  iiosthule  is  missing,  as  in 
stanzas  3  and  7,  which  are  also  jilaci'd  late.  The  second  evi- 
dence for  the  lateness  of  the  stanza  is  the  nature  of  the  offense 
mciit  ioncd  in  the  second  section.  Tradition  early  described  Edom 
as  a  brother  to  Israel.  In  early  historic  times  Edom  was  sub- 
ject to  Israel  and  for  two  centuries  was  under  its  domination 
(I  K.  11.16;  II  K.  14.7).  Edom  is  hostile  at  the  time  of  the 
Exodus,  and  at  the  time  of  the  revolt  of  Iladad  during  the  reign 

[228] 


I'tirnllelism  in  Awos  173 

of  Solomon,  an  cvnit  too  niiiotc  to  serve  as  the  basis  lor  Amos' 
proplieey.  In  tlie  days  of  Jonim  (e.  893  n.c.)  oceurn-d  anolluT 
revolt  of  E<iom  (II  K.  7.20-22;  11  Ciiroii.  21.8-101,  a-jaiii  too 
ilistaiit  for  Amos'  i)iirpo.ses,  for  it  may  be  surmised  tiiat  the 
Prophet  would  naturally  seleet  an  event  eloser  to  his  own  day 
ami  fresher  in  the  minds  of  his  readei-s  and  listeners. 

In  11  K.  14.7  and  II  Thron.  20.5-1:5  oeeur  the  stories  of  the 
defeat  of  the  Edomites  at  tiie  hand  of  Kin>j;  Amaziali  of  .Iiidah 
around  the  year  795  it.i'.,  a  little  more  tium  a  <:enei'ation  before 
Amos  bejfan  his  prophetic  activity.  The  defeat  is  thonni^h,  for 
in  verso  12  it  is  stated:  "And  ten  tiiousand  left  alive  did  the 
ehildren  of  Judah  earry  away  captive  and  broutrht  them  unto 
the  top  of  the  rock  and  cast  them  down  from  tin-  top  of  the  rock 
and  they  all  wore  broken  to  i)ieees. "  (On  stanzas  2  and  .'}.  it 
is  instructive  to  note  here  that  Edom  is  made  the  captive  and 
niit  the  recipient  of  Judaean  captives.)  II  ("hron.  2(5.2  also 
tt'lls  of  the  eontiiuicd  humiliation  t>f  the  Edomites,  for  I'zziah, 
the  kiufr  contemporary  with  Amos,  took  the  city  of  Elath  from 
them  and  restored  it  to  Judah.  The  (pnstiou  may  then  leijifi- 
mately  be  asked:  Since  Edom  was  so  soundly  defeated  both 
siiortly  before  aiid  contemporaneously  with  Amos,  why  should 
the  Prophet  direct  iifrainst  them  an  oracle  forctellin'r  a  doom 
wiiich  had  already  fallen  ujion  them?  Notice  further  Amos' 
use  of  the  term  "the  remnant  of  E<h»m"  in  9.12;  the  Hle.ssiny; 
of  Esau,  (Jen.  27.:59tr.,  supposed  to  have  ori-rinated  at  this  period, 
also  tells  of  the  subjection  of  Edom  to  the  sway  of  Israel.  It  is 
therefore  nect.s.sary  to  search  for  the  rnlsoii  il'i'tn  of  the  oracle 
in  Amos  in  events  which  transpired  after  his  death. 

Plenteous  evidence  is  found  in  <;enerations  siiceeedin<;,  for 
the  insertion  of  a  prophecy  afrainst  Edom.  In  II  Chron.  28.17, 
a  mirration  of  the  incursions  of  the  Edomites  at  the  time  of 
Ahaz  is  piven :  "apain  the  Edomites  had  come  and  smitten 
•Indnh  and  carried  nway  captives."  The  u.se  of  the  word 
"afrain"  may  lead  to  the  thought  that  contemporaneous  with 
Amas  the  event  first  occurred,  giving  rise  to  his  prophecy.  It 
seems  more  likely,  however,  that  the  event  referred  to  nnist  have 
oecurnd  directly  before  the  one  mi-ntioned.      Ahaz  is  compelled 


174  Parallclisin  in  Amos 

in  734  B.C.  to  apply  to  tlie  King-  of  Assyria  for  assistance.  Edom 
is  mentioned  in  Isaiah,  chapter  34.  in  terms  of  vigorous  denun- 
ciation. Hence  the  tirst  suggestion  is  that  the  Edom  stanza 
was  inserted  into  Amos  around  the  j'car  720  B.C.,  together  with 
parts  of  stanza  1,  section  4,  and  stanza  2,  section  2.  and  possibly 
stanza  3. 

The  evidence  points  more  specifically  to  an  exilic  or  i^ost- 
exilie  reconstruction  of  this  prophecy  in  Amos.  Jeremiah  after 
several  references  to  Edom  (9.25,  25.21,  27.3)  devotes  to  it  a 
whole  oracle  in  49.7-22.  The  passage  is  confused  and  bears 
resemblances  to  Obadiah's  anti-Edom  utterances;  the  offense  of 
Edom  is  haughtiness  and  pride  of  heart  (verse  16).  But  it  is 
in  the  Book  of  Ezekiel  that  the  most  weighty  hints  on  the  origin 
of  the  oracle  occur.  Thr  data  jioiiit  clearly  to  the  fact  that  the 
passage  in  Amos  refers  tn  the  attitude  (jf  Edom  towards  Judah 
at  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  in  586  B.C.  Ezek.  25.12-14 
proclaims  as  the  offense  of  Edom,  their  self-exacted  vengeance 
upon  Judah  for  which  they  will  be  punished  in  kind.  Ezek.  35 
gives  the  identical  offense,  apparently,  to  which  Amos  refers : 
"Because  thou  hast  had  a  peri^etual  hatred  and  hast  shed  the 
blood  of  the  children  of  Israel  by  the  force  of  the  sword  in  the 
time  of  their  calamity,  in  the  time  that  their  iniquity  had  an 
end"  (verse  5;  see  also  verses  12,  13,  15).  The  words  'fhhath 
'61dm  compared  with  Amos,  stanza  4,  second  couplet  of  the 
second  section,  give  a  clue  to  the  date  of  the  Edom  oracle  in 
Amos.  The  utterances  of  Obadiah  bear  out  the  same  indica- 
tions. For  in  verses  10-11  occur  references  to  the  "violence" 
of  the  Edomites  and  their  conspiracy  with  the  invaders  at  the 
destruction  of  the  Temple.  Joel  4.19  refers  to  the  slaughter  of 
Judah  by  Edom.  even  as  does  the  first  couplet  in  the  Amos 
offense  section ;  Ps.  137.7  gives  additional  data  (cf.  also  Ps.  83.7). 
.Alalachi  1.2-5  apjunvntly  at  a  latrr  date,  refers  to  the  historic 
enmity  lii'tween  Edcini  and  Israel  despite  the  fact  that  they  were 
"brothers." 

The  necessary  conclusion  sei'ms  to  be  that  the  offense  men- 
tioned in  Amos  occurred  around  586  B.C..  and  that  the  second 
section  was  written  in  the  light  of  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  and 


[230: 


I'arallflism   in  Amos  175 

Olmiliah.  HarpiT  eornrtly  says  (p.  'M)  :  •'Tlif  crinlty  wliicli 
fiiriiishfd  the  basis  for  the  ill  fft'liii'r  on  the  part  of  Isiail  ciiiiii' 
witli  the  exilo.  It  was  not  unnatural  therefore,  that  a  later 
writer,  ilevoitl  of  historical  pei-speetive  and  fhinkinf^  tliat  Edoni 
deserv<'d  denuiu-iation,  should  frame  a  seetion  wliieh  in  due  time 
sicured  a  i)laee  in  the  text  of  Amos." 

The  third  evidence  for  the  lateness  of  the  Eilom  oraele  in 
Amos  is  the  character  of  the  lanfjuage,  especially  in  the  second 
section.  As  has  been  noted,  the  real  foundation  for  the  section 
appears  to  be  Ezck.  35.5,  when'in  two  ideas,  hatred  and  inirsuit 
by  sword,  are  grouped;  the  writer  of  the  Amos  material  has 
expanded  them  into  two  couplets,  whereas  on  the  basis  of  the 
Ezekiel  passajre,  the  form  could  be  one  couplet,  omitting  the 
second  stichos  of  each  existing  couplet  in  the  seetion: 

Bocause  he  pursupil  with   tho  swonl   his   brother, 

And  forever  his  anger  tore. 

This  agrees  with  Harper's  suggestion  that  stichoi  b  in  both 
couplets  are  glosses,  and  the  second  .section  then  holds  the  num- 
ber of  stichoi  which  the  type  stanza  demands.  On  the  other 
harul,  the  arrangement  destroys  two  couplets  in  entirely  good 
parallelism,  whereas  it  is  a  cardinal  pi-inciple  that,  normally, 
ccuipbts  in  good  form  should  not  be  disturbed;  to  escape  the 
task  of  reconstruction,  it  may  be  urged  that  if  the  entire  stanza 
is  late,  there  is  no  need  to  make  it  conform  to  the  model  stanza, 
for  it  is  clear  that  the  later  redactor  neglected  entirely  the 
adherence  to  a  model  stnietnre.  Ezck.  35.6  on  the  motif  of  poetic 
justice  states:  "and  blood  shall  pursue  thee";  compare  also 
Obnd.  10  and  .Imd  4.19  for  references  to  the  bl.HMiy  pursuit 
suggested  by  AmcKS. 

-The  u.se  of  the  term  "brother"  with  reference  to  the  relation- 
ship between  Israel  nrul  Edom  occurs  in  Deut.  2.4;  (Jen.  27.40, 
41;  Num.  20.14;  the  admonition  in  Deut.  2.5.S,  "Thou  sludt 
not  abhor  an  Edomite  for  he  is  thy  brother"  was  (*vidently  writ- 
ten befon-  the  Destruetion  and  tin-  hostility  fif  Edom.  Neither 
Isaiah,  Jereiniah,  Joel,  nor  even  Ezekiel  refers  to  Edom  as 
Israel's  "brother";  in  Obad.  10.12  and  Mai.  1.2-5  the  term  is 
revived,    probably    to    emphasi/.i'    the    heinousness    of    Edom's 


2.11  1 


176  I'arallclusiii  in  Amos 

offense,  ilalaehi  .speaks  of  Edoin  as  "the  people  against  whom 
the  Lord  hath  indignation  fori'Ver. ''  Tliis  may  be  poetie  jus- 
tice for  the  attitude  of  perpetual  hatred  whieh  Edom  cherished 
towards  God's  people  Israel. 

The  second  stiehos  of  the  tirst  couiilet:  "and  he  destroyed 
his  compassion"  is  unwisely  omitted  by  Harper;  the  exact  sense 
of  tiie  period  is  dubious,  and  depends  on  the  interpretation  of 
i-ii\"uiili<-  I'ither  as  "his  compassions"  or  "his  wombs."  his 
pregnant  women.  The  word  l<^-mashx^th,  "for  destroying," 
is  used  in  Ez.  25.15  with  reference  to  the  phrase  'ehhath  '  olayn 
applied  to  Philistia  there,  but  to  Edom  in  35.5 ;  Ezekiel  uses  the 
word  at  least  eight  times  more  in  different  forms.  It  is  difficult 
to  suggest  a  correct  reading ;  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  entire 
oracle  is  placed  late,  no  reconstructions  will  be  advanced. 

The  second  couplet  of  the  section  is  in  perfect  parallelism, 
though  a  slight  eliauge  is  advocated,  on  the  basis  of  Ps.  10:?.9 
and  Jer.  3.5,  where  two  perfectly  i)ai-allel  couplets  are  present; 
this  change  makes  waij-ijifruph,  "and  it  tore,"  into  way-yittur, 
"and  he  cherished."  This  suggestion  was  first  made  bj'  01s- 
hausen  and  has  been  generally  accepted.  The  Jeremiah  couplet 
shows  striking  similarities  to  tiiis  Anios  passage,  and  may  be 
based  upon  it,  or  vice  vers;i.  If  the  phrase  umy-yitroph  is 
retained,  similarities  to  Job  Ki.!)  and  18.4  must  be  noted.  The 
phrase  la- adh  'appi'i  occurs  in  .Mieah  7. IS  in  a  ])arallel  couplet. 
The  second  stiehos  of  the  Amos  couplet  is  omitted  by  Harper 
because  ' '  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  interpolation,  it  is  a  gloss, 
merel.y  repeating  the  thought  of  the  preceding  phrase  in  synony- 
mous words."  This  is  perhajis  the  very  reason  wh.y  the  stiehos 
should  be  retained,  because  it  makes  admirable  parallelism. 
Moreover,  the  examjile  of  Jer.  :!..')  suppmls  the  usage  of  the 
couplet,  and  fixes  the  text  as  subslantiaJly  eorrcct.  The  form 
H'CiiX  occurs  in  Ps.  13. "J  and  Jer.  IT). IS,  tlioneh  several  eonimen- 
tators  wish  to  amend  it  to  Id-iH'ra^  as  in  Amos  8.7.  It  may  be 
concluded  with  reference  to  the  couplet  that  its  language  sug- 
gests the  later  Psalms  and  Jeremiah,  rather  than  Amos  himself. 

A  fourth  reason  for  regarding  the  oracle  on  Edom  as  late 
is  that  "Petra.  the  most   imjiortant   city  of  Edom   is  not  men- 

[232] 


raralhlism   in  Amus  111 

tioiicil,  wliili'  till'  miiiics  Tfiiiiui  and  liKzrali  ofi-iir  clscwlicri' 
cliietly  ill  tlu'  lute  wiitiiijrs"  (l)iit  i-f.  (ii'ii.  :JG.:}:i.  :{4 )  :  Tcinan 
is  nuMitioiii'd  in  Oliad.  9  Hiarallol  to  har  'fsatr)  :  in  .Iit.  451.7.  'JO 
(panillt'l  to  •'Edoin,'"  as  in  Ezi-k.  '21S.VA,  and  Ilali.  :i.:n  :  liozrali 
oci-ui-s  in  Is.  :54.G.  (i:5.6  (paiaiU'l  to  "Edom"'),  Jcr.  49.1:^,  22 
((ifii.  .iG..!.?  and  I  riiroii.  1.44  iiavc  it  in  an  identically  worded 
vei-se).  The  lateiie.vs  of  tile  word  "Teman,"  tofjetiier  witii  tiie 
lateness  of  "Bozrali,"  therefore  adds  other  evidenee  to  the 
hypothesis  that  the  stanza  on  Edoni  is  exilie  or  post-exilic. 

Stanz.v  ■).— The  Ammo.sitks 

Stanza  5  on  the  Ammonites  is  perhaps  the  model  stanza.  Its 
strophie  struetnre  eonforms  to  the  type  form,  sinee  it  is  1  + 
2-|-2  +  2  +  4-rl.  The  sieoiid  seetion  eontains  the  neeessary 
two  stiehoi.  tlioujrh  it  will  he  seen  that  tiny  are  not  in  the  most 
exaet  parallelism;  the  fonrth  seetion  eontains  two  jiood  eonplets. 
The  meaning  of  the  entire  oraele  is  on  tin-  whole  eirar,  e.xeept 
for  the  possible  iioii  siqiiilur  lutweeii  stiehoi  a  and  li  of  seetion 
2:  a  solution  of  the  diffienlty  her.'  involvctl  will  -rive  a  stanza 
elear  in  meaninjr  and  jierfeet  in  foiiii. 

The  oeeasion  for  the  delivery  of  a  jirojiheey  a!.rainst  the 
Ammonites  presents  diffienlties.  Durin-r  the  reiprn  of  .lehosha- 
phat  (v.  850  it.c.)  tlie  Moabites  and  the  Ammonites  were  defeated 
(II  K.  3.4-27,  and  II  Cliron.  20).  During  the  reign  of  Tzziah. 
•oiifemporaneous  with  Amos,  the  Ammonites  paid  tribute  to 
Judah  (II  ("hron.  26.8)  ;  during  the  reign  of  .lotham  of  -iudah. 
the  sueees.sor  to  I'zziah,  and  immediately  after  Amos  (e.  7:!9 
ii.c).  war  was  waged  against  the  Ammonites  and  .lotliam  '■pre- 
vailed against  them":  as  a  result  they  brought  him  heavy  tribute 
(II  Chron.  27."}).  The  (|uestion  may  be  now  propoundi'd :  If 
the  Ammonites  brought  tribute  to  I'zziah  and  were  thus  subject 
to  him,  why  was  it  iieee.s.snry  for  Amos  to  deliver  against  them 
an  oraele  of  doom?  It  appeal's,  liowever,  that  they  were  by 
no  means  completely  subjugated;  apparently  they  proved  hostile 
during  the  entire  lifetime  of  Amos  and  were  not  fully  cpiieted 
until  the  reign  of  Jothani;  which  fact  points  to  the  appropriate- 
ness of  an  oracle  against  them  in  this  series  original  with  Amos. 

[  2.33  1 


178  I'antlhlhtH  in  Amos 

Till'  (lest niet ion  which  tlu'  Prophet  foretells  may  have  been 
imminent  in  the  war  waged  In'  the  contemporary  kings. 

It'  it  be  not  agreed  that  the  prophecy  is  genuine  with  Amos, 
the  only  other  time  it  seems  plausible  is  during  the  post-exilic 
period.  Is.  11.14  contains  the  only  reference  to  them  in  his 
work;  Jeremiah  delivers  a  telling  denunciation  of  them  in  chap- 
ter 49,  with  which  Amos  has  noteworthy  likenesses;  Ezekiel 
21.33-37  and  25.1-7  contain  references  to  the  behavior  of  the 
Ammonites  at  the  time  of  the  Destruction,  while  Zeph.  2.8  has 
two  couplets  of  interest  for  the  origin  of  the  Amos  oracle.  A 
decision  on  the  date  of  the  appearance,  the  redaction  and  the 
reworking  of  the  Amos  portion  will  be  attempted  after  the  evi- 
dence has  been  reviewed. 

Section  2  of  this  stanza  reads  thus : 

Because  they  have  ripped  up  the  pregnant  women  of  Gileail, 
In  order  to  enlarge  their  border. 

For  the  literal  translation  and  retention  of  this  couplet,  espe- 
cially of  the  first  stiehos,  many  references  offer  testimony.  On 
the  practice  of  liarbarity  to  pregnant  women,  see  I  K.  8.12; 
Hos.  10.14,  16:  II  K.  15.16;  Is.  13.16;  Nah.  3.10;  Ps.  137.9. 
Harper  affirms:  "The  reference  is  in  every  way  so  specific  as 
to  suggest  a  particular  event.  This  event  may  have  been  in  con- 
nection with  the  attack  of  Nahash,  the  Ammonite,  upon  Jabesh 
Gilead  (I  Bam.  11)  or  a  league  of  the  Ammonites  with  the 
Syrians  under  Hazael  (II  K.  8.12,  10.32)." 

But  several  facts  labor  against  the  retention  of  the  present 
text.  Harper's  suggestion  does  not  appeal,  because  in  none 
of  the  in.stances  mentioned  is  there  a  hint  of  an  alliance  between 
Ammon  and  other  nations  against  Israel.  Moreover  the  repe- 
tition of  the  word  ' '  Gilead ' '  from  stanza  1  throws  doubt  upon  the 
stiehos;  it  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  event  referred 
to  here  should  more  properly  be  joined  to  the  oracle  on  Syi'ia, 
and  a  reconstruction  of  the  second  section  of  stanza  1  has  pro- 
ceeded on  this  assumption.  The  discrepancy  in  thought  between 
the  first  and  second  stichoi  is  marked :  Wliat  is  the  relation 
between  the  ripping  up  of  pregnant  women  and  the  expansion 
of  national  borders,  except  perhaps  that  this  act  is  symbolic  of 

[234] 


]\intlt,lis,„  in  Amos  171) 

a  i"iithK'>isni'ss  whii-li  has  natioiuil  doiniiiatioii  as  its  aim?  Sev- 
iTal  t'UU'iKlations  may  be  pmposid  in  tlic  lijjrht  of  historical  ami 
Hhilolofjii-al  evidence : 

1.  •  III  ffiir'sluim  miru»liDluitlu)  'ith  Giidh 
l'-mu'ai>  liurxihl)    'cth  <i''bhiUum. 

Bfoauso  tlioy  have  dispossossod  from  liis  iiilicritiiiioo  Gml, 
In  onlor  to  iuoroaso  their  borderH. 

The  sin  of  the  Ammonites  as  mentioiicil  in  Amos  is  that 
they  have  usurped  tlie  territory  of  Israel.  Even  in  the  jieriod 
of  the  Judges,  tiie  Ammonites  had  laid  claim  to  the  land  which 
the  Israelites  had  captured  from  Sihon  of  the  Amoritcs  dwrinfr 
the  period  of  the  Exodus.  The  story  of  Jcphtha's  hat  tic  on 
the  seizure  of  Gilcad  by  the  Ammonites  contains  a  long  diplo- 
matic comnninication  on  the  justice  of  Israel's  lepral  and  his- 
torical claim  to  the  land.  There  is  jrencral  afrrcement  that 
vei-ses  V2-'2S  of  chapter  11  are  a  later  interpolation,  the  motive 
of  which  is  to  establish  the  title  of  Israel  to  its  possessions  be- 
tween the  Arnon  and  the  .labbok.  The  Anunonites  never  eea.sed 
to  waire  war  for  additional  territory  (.hid.  10. S  ;  I  Sam.  11.11, 
ete.K 

In  II  t'hron.  11.11  a  rcfi-rcncc  to  the  traditional  sin  of 
Amnion  occurs.  This  version  of  the  victory  of  Jehoshaphat 
over  .Moab  and  Ammonlscc  II  K.  :i.4—27,  wherein  the  Ammoniti's 
are  not  mentioned  >  includes  a  reference  strikiiifjly  similar  to  the 
phraseolo<»y  of  .ludjres.  chapter  11:  "And  behold  they  requited 
us  by  coming  to  cast  us  out  of  thy  pos.se.ssion  which  thou  hast 
^ivcn  us  to  inherit."  This  verse  is  evidently  tin;  work  of  a 
later  poet  fcf.  Ezek.  21. :{.'>,  the  prophecy  ajrainst  Amnion,  which 
has  the  line:  "l  will  judffe  thee  in  the  place  where  thou  wast 
created,  in  the  land  of  thy  nativity."  referriiifr  thus  va<:uely  to 
this  central  thought ). 

Jer.  49.1-7  ajrainst  the  Ammonites  contains  the  nu>st  impor- 
tant sugK<'stions  for  the  Amos  i)a.s.sajre : 

I'onrornini;  the   Amiiiouite.4, 
Thus  saith  YahwA, 

Hath  Israel  no  sons? 
Hath  he  no  hcirf 

[23o] 


Why  then  doth  their  king  inherit  Gad, 
And  his  people  dwell  in  his  cities? 

Therefore   behold  the  days  are   coming,   saith   Yalnve 

Tliat  I  will  cause  to  be  heard  iu  Rabbah  of  the  Ammonites  an 

alarm  of  war 
And  it  shall  be  a  desolate  heap. 

And  her  daughters  with  tire  shall  be  burned, 

And    Israel    shall    be    heir    unto    them    who    were    his    heirs,    saith 
Yahwe. 

Howl,  O  Heshbon,  for  Ai  is  spoiled ; 

Cry  ye  daughters  of  Kabbah, 

Gird    yourselves   with    sackcloth ; 

Lament  and  run  to  and  fro  by  the  hedges; 

For  their  king  shall  go  into  captivity. 

His  priests  and  his  princes  together.     .     .     . 

Thi.s  prophecy  appears  to  he  in  a  corrupt  state  of  preservation. 
It  is  made  iip  of  two  separate  strands,  interlaced  and  combined, 
one  a  song  of  exultation  and  lament,  the  other  a  doom  song  or 
denunciation.  The  song  of  lament  wa.s  written  either  by  Jere- 
miah, or  a  contemporaneous  author;  it  is  in  great  confusion. 
The  denunciation  affords  significant  data  for  comparison  with 
the  Amos  oracle.  The  major  discrepancies  between  the  two 
denunciations  are:  (a!  omission  in  Jeremiah  of  the  introductory 
coujili't  formula  of  Amos;  (b)  four  lines  of  offense  in  Jeremiali 
to  two  in  Amos;  (c)  formula  of  punishment  in  Amos  shifted 
in  place  and  language  in  Jeremiah ;  (d)  line  on  destruction  in 
war  shifted  in  place  and  with  a  different  complementary  stichos 
in  Jeremiah.  The  similarities  are:  1.  In  thought:  (a)  offense 
in  both  cases  is  dispossession  ;  punishment  in  both  cases  is  war, 
cry,  tire,  and  exile.  2.  In  language:  (a)  /iv7  'dmar  '"dhonai; 
(b)  the  word  indlkdni  is  used  twice;  (c)  tirrnthiifi  to  matcli 
v'-hirraftl  in  Amos;  (d)  the  words  tcnValh  ,iiil^,hml  to  match 
in  Amos  hi-th'ru'd  h<^-yd»i  iiiilyhinl:  (e)  the  last  couplet  in 
the  denunciation  is  identical,  ixct'|>t  for  the  use  in  Jeremiah  of 
koh^ndw  in  place  of  Amos'  sdrdir.  The  question  arises:  Did 
Jeremiah  borrow  from  Amos,  or  did  a  later  i-edactor  reconstruct 
Amos  on  the  basis  of  Jeremiah?  If  the  former  supposition  is 
true,  then  it  is  evident  tliat  the  Prophet  injected  enougli  of  his 


236] 


I'linilli Usui  in  Amos  181 

Kwii  thoiiv'lit  ami  i)lirasi'(il(i<ry  iiitu  the  tcnns  <»f  Amos  to  reiuler 
tlii'iii  liis  own;  for  tluTc  arc  slijrlit  ililVcriMitiatioiis  which  mark 
the  prophecy  as  ilcciilcclly  tlic  work  of  Jcrcmiali.  liut  if  Joro- 
iiiiali  based  his  own  utterance  on  Amos,  is  it  not  possibK'  to  i;ain 
frnm  this  fact  information  for  a  possible  reconstruction  of  errors 
in  Amos"  oracle?  The  correct  portions  in  tlie  (leiHineiation  in 
Jiiiiiiiah  may  throw  litrht  u])oii  the  apparently  incorrect  por- 
tions in  Amos. 

The  influence  of  the  correct  .leremiali  text  on  the  incorrect 
Amos  stichoi  is  seen  most  elTcctually  in  one  fact  :  In  Amos, 
Gilead  is  the  victim  of  the  Ammonites;  in  Jeremiah,  it  is  Gad. 
In  both  eases  the  offense  is  dispossi's-sion.  The  repetition  of 
"CHIead"  in  stanza  1,  and  tiie  discrepancy  of  thouglit  between 
the  two  stichoi  in  the  second  section,  tlius  lead  to  the  belief  that 
instead  of  (iilcad,  the  name  (iad  orifrinally  occnrred  in  .\mos 
as  the  victim. 

In  defense  of  the  correctness  of  the  term  Gilead,  in  Amos, 
it  must  be  mentioned  that  Gilead  in  the  time  of  Jephtha,  at  the 
time  of  Xalmsli's  attack,  and  on  numerous  other  occasions,  was 
the  sutTerer  from  Ammonitish  raids.  It  is  known  tiiat  the 
territory  of  the  Ammonites  east  of  the  Jordan  was  included 
in  tiie  portion  assi<;ned  to  CJad,  it.self  cast  of  the  Jordan  (Jo.sh. 
13.24-2S),  while  "Gilead"  in  its  larger  meaning  designated  the 
whole  territf>ry  east  of  the  Jordan  except  Bashan,  in  contrast 
with  Canaan,  west  of  the  Jordan  ;  it  stands  specifically  for  the 
territory  of  the  two  and  one-half  tribes.  Gad,  Reuben  and  half- 
Jlana.sseh.  However,  Gad  and  Gilead  always  stand  in  close 
relationship:  sometimes  Gad's  territory  is  jjlaccd  in  Gilead; 
sometimes  the  two  are  joined  (see  Harper,  p.  17);  sometimes 
Gilead  is  used  alone  when  Gad  is  unmistakably  included;  in- 
deed, "Gad"  and  "Gilqad"  are  so  closely  synonymous  that 
oftcntimrs  the  temus  are  exchanged;  and  so  in  Amos.  Gilead 
may  have  included  Gad;  "Gilead"  may  have  been,  a  general 
t<  rm,  with  (Jad  specifically  in  the  I'rophet 's  miml.  Moreover, 
in  defens«'  of  the  term  "Gilead."  it  must  be  admitted  that 
though  if  is  a  rej)etiti<)n.  it  docs  not  mar  the  form  of  the  poem 
in  any  grent  .!.•._'>■■.. 

I  -'•'<:  1 


182  Parallelism  In  Amos 

On  the  other  hand,  the  use  of  "Gad"  as  the  victim  of 
Ammonitish  cruelty  would  add  to  the  effective  reconstruction 
of  the  stanza.  Josh.  13.24  shows  that  the  boundaries  of  Gad 
were  all  the  cities  of  Gilead  and  half  of  the  land  of  the  Ammon- 
ites. In  Deut.  33.20  occurs  the  significant  sentence:  hdrukh 
ham-marxiih  'cih  Gadh,  "Blessed  is  he  that  enlargeth  Gad," 
using  niarxlbh  as  in  the  second  stichos  of  the  Amos  distich :  he 
who  broadens  Gad  is  blessed;  per  contra,  he  who  broadens  him- 
self— i.e.,  as  in  Amos,  extends  his  boundaries  at  the  expense  of 
Gad — is  cursed.  Hence  the  anger  of  Amos  maj'  be  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  Ammonites  had  diminished  the  already  small  tribe 
of  Gad.  To  make  a  coherent  couplet,  it  may  therefore  be  neces- 
sary to  have  tlie  first  stichos  apply  to  Gad,  so  that  the  thought 
may  lead  up  naturally  to  the  second  stichos,  wherein  Jiarxtbh 
is  used.  In  Jer.  49.1,  the  offense  of  the  Ammonites  is  against 
Gad;  this  part  of  the  oracle  is  genuine,  as  the  parallelism  and 
sen.se  are  good;  and  the  affinity  between  tlie  two  oracles  leads 
to  the  supposition  that  Jeremiah  secured  his  stimulus  for  the 
thought  from  Amos;  hence  again  there  would  seem  to  have  been 
in  Amos  a  reference  to  Gad.  The  term  "Gilead"  may  have 
been  inserted  in  post-exilic  times,  for  the  evidence  points  to  the 
fact  that  after  the  fall  of  Samaria,  the  Ammonites  occupied  the 
territory  of  Gad  or  Gilead  (cf.  the  doubtful  verse  in  Obad.  20). 
Therefore  to  restore  the  Amos. text  to  the  form  from  which 
Jeremiah  took  suggestions,  it  is  necessary  to  supplant  "Gilead" 
with  "Gad."  In  the  couplet  which  has  been  suggested  as  the 
first  reconstruction,  the  term  "inheritance"  is  used  as  in 
II  Chron.  20.11  and  Jer.  49.1  with  reference  to  Gad.  The 
phrase  garash  nnrushshd  is  incorporated  on  the  foundation  of 
the  passage  in  II  Chron.  20.11  whieli  refers  to  this  act  by  the 
Ammonites. 

2.  ' al  hiq'-'am  'arc  hag-Gadh, 

I'^-ma' an  Imrxiih   'eth  g^bhuliim. 

Because  they  have  pierced  through  the  cities  of  Gael, 
In  order  to  widen  their  boundaries. 

This  substitutes  'drf 
In  Josh.  13.25  occurs 

[238; 


cities,"  for  hdr 

■dth.  "jiregi 

lant  women. 

1  reference  to  " 

all  the  citi( 

_^s  of  Gilead. 

Piiriilh Usui  in  Attws  ISI! 

•IiT.  49.1  reads,  "and  liis  pi-oplc  have  taken  their  resideiiee  in  his 
cities."  Tlie  word  bfititi' ,  "pieree  tlirou<;li,"  with  "eities"  is 
sanetioiied  liy  II  fliron.  32.1;  II  K.  25.4;  .ler.  :?9.2 ;  Ezek.  :}0.16, 
24.10;  .ler.  .")2.7 ;  and  by  other  pjus-sajies  in  which  it  oeenrs  in 
warlike  operations:  "to  nnike  a  hreaeh  in  the  eity  walls"  (ef. 
11  C'hron.  21.17  and  Is.  S.t^  with  reference  to  -hidah). 

lu  place  of  hdroth  the  word  ht'irf,  "mountains  of,"  has  been 
suggested  by  Jewish  commentators,  who  .sought  to  mitigate  the 
barbarity  of  the  pas-sage  (Harper,  p.  36)  ;  the  Ammonites  were 
thus  guilty  of  breaking  the  law  of  boundaries  (Dent.  27.17). 
Kittel  anil  A'aleton  suggest  the  reading  bfi;iiroth,  "fortified 
places." 

Another  group  of  restorations  grows  out  of  the  onus.sion  of 
the  seeoiul  stichos  of  the  couplet  as  a  later  aildition  on  the  basis 
of  the  Ammonitish  attacks  against  Gilead  and  Gad  inunediately 
after  Amos  or  during  the  e.xilie  days;  this  would  leave  authentic 
here  the  tii-st  line  and  invalidate  several  of  the  suggestions  made 
in  stanzii  1  which  transposed  this  line  to  its  second  section. 
Though  there  is  no  mention  that  the  Ammonites  were  guilty 
of  the  cruelty  referred  to,  this  does  not  imply  that  it  did  not 
occur. 

3.  Bot-ausc  tlioy  have  ripped  up  the  prejfiiant  women  of  Gilead, 
And  the  young  children  they  dashed  into  pieces. 
This  is  ba.sed  upon  the  parallelistic  iisages  in  IIos.  14.1;  II  K. 
8.12;  and  upon  the  presence  of  the  phra.se  "their  children  shall 
be  dashed  to  pieces"  in  several  other  pa.s.sages  that  prophecy 
d.-struction:  Xah.  3.10;  Has.  10.14;  Ps.  1.37.9;  Is.  1.3.16tT. 
Another  suggestion  is  to  read  for  the  second  stichos,  "and  the 
fruit  of  the  womb  they  pitied  not"  (ef.  Is.  13.1S). 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  upon  the  best  of  the.se  suggestions; 
the  evidence  is  so  complicated  that  a  categorical  decision  is  out 
of  the  question;  they  suffice,  however,  to  point  the  way  to  the 
difficulties  in  the  text,  and  the  j>robabilities  upon  which  recon- 
structions can  Iw  founded. 

The   third   s«H'tion   of  stanza   5   has   instead   of    ir''-.v/ii7/rtx'i, 

and    I    will   send,"    m'<'-/iiVc«"'.   "and    I    will    kindle."       The 

thought  that  the  author  through  superstition  and  fear  of  exact 

[239] 


184  I'aMlldi.siii  in  Amos 

ayumu'tvy  in  the  formulas  cluuiged  the  word  here,  is  baseless, 
especially  since  other  words  are  changed  throughout  the  con- 
stant couplets.  The  word  w<^-higgatti  is  verj^  popular  with 
Jeremiah ;  tlie  close  nexus  between  this,  prophecy  on  the  Ammon- 
ites by  Amos  and  that  in  Jeremiah,  chapter  49,  points  to  the 
conclusion  that  in  Amos'  original  text  u•'^-shillaxt^  may  have 
been  used,  but  that  a  later  redactor  inserted  w''-hii\-attT  on  the 
basis  of  Jeremiah.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  entire  Amos 
prophecy  was  written  on  the  pattern  of  Jeremiah ;  it  is  more 
feasible  to  support  the  notion  of  an  interplay  of  influence ;  Amos 
affected  Jeremiah;  then  through  a  later  compiler  and  editor, 
Jeremiah's  text  affected  Amos.  This  would  indicate  that  sev- 
eral texts  existed  with  different  readings  in  the  minutiae  and 
that  the  final  redaction  was  made  through  a  synthesis  of  the 
variant  readings. 

The  fourth  section  of  stanza  5  has  two  couplets  in  apparently 
excellent  parallelism.  The  first  couplet  differs  from  its  equiv- 
alents in  the  other  three  tj-pe  stanzas  in  that  no  direct  verb 
stands  at  its  head.  It  is  not  imperative  that  this  verbal  motif 
be  employed,  for  the  arrangement  here  used  is  found  in  other 
prophetic  passages.  An  objection  may  be  made  to  the  use  of 
hi-fh'rri'fi,  "with  shouting,"  however,  since  in  section  4  of 
stanza  6,  on  Moab,  the  same  w'ord  occurs.  Though  the  Septua- 
gint  has  the  same  phrase  in  each  place,  it  seems  necessary  that 
one  of  the  two  usages  must  be  omitted  in  order  to  present  a  text 
free  from  careless  repetitions.  Moreover,  the  context  as  it  stands 
is  awkward  ("and  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  with  shouting"), 
w^hen  compared  with. Amos  2.2  and  particularly  with  Jer.  49.2. 

The  second  stichos  of  this  first  couplet  in  the  fourth  section 
of  stanza  5,  though  in  excellent  parallelism  to  the  first  line, 
jiresents  some  difficulties.  Harper  -in  order  to  maintain  his 
three  line  strophic  arrangement  states  (p.  35):  "The  clause 
...  is  but  a  weak  repetition  of  the  preceding  clause  and  there 
is  nothing  to  correspond  to  it  in  the  parallel  section  on  Jloab 
( 2.1-3  K  although  in  every  other  respect  the  parallelism  is  per- 
fect."      This  omission   of  a  line   in   perfect   couplet   formation 

[  240  ] 


rdrallfli.iin   in  Amos  185 

IS  luiwarranti-d,  for  tlie  disruption  of  a  imrallclistic  i-ouplct  i-aii 
niily  ranly  Im-  tolfratud ;  mort'ovi-r  llic  lojriral  sulii-ini'  of  tlu' 
|ioi'm  in  c'onfornianee  to  tlu>  model  stanza  would  he  lirokcii.  .  For 
this  stiohos,  tlu'  St'ptuagint  reads:  "and  she  shall  hr  shaken 
in  the  days  of  her  destruetion."  This  presents  the  followint,' 
probaliilities:  (a)  either  the  Septnajrint  wron-rly  read  the  text; 
ill  defense  of  the  text  as  it  stands  may  he  eited  Ps.  8:i.lG,  Is. 
•J9.6,  Nah.  1.3;  or  (h)  in  the  text  whieh  the  Septua-rint  trans- 
lators po.sses.scd  there  aetually  was  a  basis  for  the  variant 
leadiiifj.  If  the  latter  was  the  ease,  perhaps  the  variant  was  a 
marginal  reading  intended  to  replaee  the  bi-lli'ri'i'd  of  stielios  a 

whieh  has,  indeed,  been  shown  to  be  snspieioiis^  ;  the  trans- 
lators, however,  read  it  in.stead  a.s  a  variant  of  b'-sa'ar,  "with 
a  tempest,"  possibly  because  its  railieals  resembled  those  of 
v.rur.  This  would  sanetion  the  retention  of  b^-sa'ar  in  the 
>.eond  stiehos  and  the  sub.stitution  in  tin-  first  for  hi-Ufrfi'd  of 
;i  verb  in  the  Hebrew  ba.sed  on  the  tireik  deiaOtjaerai.  Finally, 
even  if  bi-tlt'rCru  be  retained  here,  and  the  Greek  verb  be  rc- 
gardtd  mi  rely  as  a  translation  of  the  root  sd'ar  (cf.  Zeeh.  7.14), 
it  would  still  seem  neee.s.sary  to  insert  a  verb  at  the  head  of  the 
first   stielio.s.     Among  the   po.s.sible  suggestion   are:    ir'-r(7'".s7i(7, 

it  shall  shake"  (ef.  Amos  9.1)  ;  ir'-ZiiV ".s/W/. "  1  shall  shake"  (ef. 
I's.  60.4.  Hag.  2.7)  ;  n'lii'drti.  "and  I  -shall  shake";  best  of  all 
ean  be  us(d  u'-hiphqailhthr.  "and  1  will  visit  him."  Though 
the  exaet  verb  eaiinot  of  eour.se  be  suggested,  it  is  sufficient  to 
point  out  the  flaw  and  the  pos.sibility  for  correction. 

The  second  couplet  of  the  section  is  in  perfect  parallelism. 
I'herc  is  doubt  as  to  the  exaet  meaning  of  DDtlkdm :  it  may  be 
•.Mileoni,"  the  name  of  the  Ammonitisli  deity,  or  merely  "their 
king,"  or  both.  There  is  also  the  (picstion  whether  Av*/i"hJw, 
"his  priests,"  should  be  substituted  in  Amos  for  lift',  on  the 
l>asis  of  .ler.  48.7,  and  49.3,  an  almost  identical  repetition  of  the 
.\mas  couplet.  But  it  is  not  neces.sary  or  even  advisable  to 
make  the  substitution;  for  however  great  the  similarities  between 
prophetic  oracles,  identical  repetitions  arc  few;  each  author 
tiiuchis  his  Imrrowings  with  his  own  individuality.  This  couplet 
allows   affinities  ImMwccii   the   .\mos  and   Jeremiah    texts,   but    to 


[  241 


186  Parallel  ism  in  Amos 

make  tlie  two  absolutely  identical  would  violate  even  the  little 
that  is  known  of  the  psychology  of  literary  borrowing. 

It  may  then  be  concluded  that  stanza  5  is  for  the  most  part 
original  with  Amos.  A  first  revision  of  his  utterance  may  have 
been  maide  immediately  after  the  Prophet 's  death,  perhaps  after 
the  invasion  of  the  Assyrians  and  the  fall  of  Samaria;  the  date 
may  be  placed  around  720  B.C.  A  later  redaction  may  also  have 
been  made ;  for  though  the  historic  offense  of  the  Ammonites  was 
dispossession  of  Israel,  another  sin  is  credited  by  the  Prophets 
to  their  neighbors  after  the  time  of  the  Destruction:  Ezek.  25.1-7 
and  Zeph.  2.8  toll  of  the  pr(>sumptuous  boasting  of  the  Ammon- 
ite.s  at  the  occasion  <if  .luihih's  downfall.  In  the  latter  text,  the 
form  icaij-yaghd'HCi  '  ul  (j'  bli  filfim,  though  it  seems  to  have  a  bear- 
ing on  the  Amos  portion,  is  given  a  different  meaning  by  reason 
of  its  context  and  the  parallelism.  Similarly  a  phrase  in  Joel 
4.6,  l<-iiiii'aii  hin\hiilm  iin  ' itl  ij' hli  illfiiii  shows  striking  linguistic 
similarities  to  the  sceoiid  stichos  (.f  the  distich  in  the  second  sec- 
tion of  stanza  5,  but  it  has  no  application  to  the  Amos  passage. 
It  may  well  be  that  another  revision  of  the  Amos  oracle  took 
place  in  post-exilic  times ;  this  would  agree  with  conclusions  on 
tlie  redaction  of  the  other  oracles  in  the  Doom  Song. 

StANZ.\   0. — MOAB 

The  sixth  stanza  on  Moab,  diverges  from  tlie  model  stanza 
only  in  its  second  section.  At  present  its  strophic  structure  is 
l-|-2-|-l  +  2-|-4+l-  Harper's  arrangement  of  5  +  3  -|-  3 
is  not  justifiable  because  it  breaks  up  two  couplet  structures  in 
tiic  fourtli  section,  even  though  it  gives  a  couplet  in  the  second 
section. 

The  occasion  for  the  oi-aele  is  t'ouiid  in  tlie  historic  enmity 
between  Moab  and  Israel.  This  liostility  existed  in  the  earliest 
period  of  the  Exodus  and  continued  through  the  reign  of  the 
.Indges  and  the  victories  of  the  kings  Saul  and  David.  After 
the  division  of  the  kingdom,  Moab  became  the  subject  of  Israel, 
but  revolted  under  Ahab  and  thereafter  proved  ti'oublesome. 
In  II  K.,  chap.  3,  and  II  Chron.  20.1-30  occurs  the  story  of  the 
conflict  of  the  :\loabites  on  the  one  hand,  with  the  king  of  Israel. 


I'aralUlisni  in  Amus  187 

.li  horaiii,  tlif  kinj?  of  .Iiidali,  Jehosliapliat,  anil  tin-  kiiijj;  of  Kilom 
nil  the  other  (e.  850  ii.c).  In  II  K.  Kl.'-'O  is  a  mention  of  a  raid 
liy  tlie  iloahites.  Then-after  no  reiVreiiee  to  tlieni  occurs  until 
tlie  i)roplieeies  of  Isaiuli.  Hut  it  may  he  well  to  take  for  jrrantetl 
that  at  the  time  of  Amos,  the  Moahites  were  uucoiuiucred,  and 
that  Amos  would  find  ample  reason  for  a  prophecy  of  denunci- 
ation a'jainst  them;  there  is,  indeed,  a  sli}j;ht  possihilify  that 
•  I'Toboam  con(|uered  Moah  (II  K.  14.25);  if  so,  this  campaif^u 
may  have  occurred  iiefore  or  contemjioraneously  with  Amos' 
oracle. 

The  second  section  as  in  the  case  of  the  other  stan/.as  gives 
.lifficulti.'s: 

Ui'fauso  they  bunioil  tlic  bones  of  tlie  kiiig  of  Eiloiii  to  lime. 
Here  a  long  prose  line  occurs  as  in  stanzas  1  and  2.  The  offender 
is  Moah,  the  victim  is  the  king  of  Edom,  the  offeu.se  apparently 
ih.secration  of  royal  bones  by  burning.  In  defense  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  te.xt.  Is.  33.12  may  be  brought  to  bear:  "and 
the  peoples  shall  be  cut  up  as  the  burnings  of  lime."  It  may 
be  borne  in  mind  that  at  tlie  time  of  Amos  Edom  apparently 
was  friendly  with  the  Judaeaus,  and  any  offense  against  them 
migiit  iiave  roused  the  prophet's  ire. 

But  more  evidence  again.st  the  authenticity  than  in  favor  can 
be  brought:  (a)  The  only  mention  of  Edom  and  Moab  co-jointly 
occurs  in  II  K.  3.4-27,  where  the  conHiet  between  the  allied 
Jtwisli  forces  and  Jloab  is  recounted;  in  verse  26  is  the  line: 
■And'wlien  tlie  king  of  Moal)  .saw  that  the  battle  was  too  sore 
for  liim,  he  took  with  him  seven  hundred  men  that  drew  swords, 
to  break  through  even  unto  the  king  of  Ediun,  but  they  could 
not."  The  next  verse  continues:  "Then  he  [the  king  of  ^loab]  , 
took  his  eldest  son,  that  siiould  have  reigned  in  his  stead,  and 
offered  him  for  a  burnt  offering  upon  the  wall.  "  Here  it  is 
to  be  observed  that  tlioiigh  tlw  king  of  Edom  figures,  it  is  not 
he  who  is  burned,  but  the  son  of  the  king  of  Moab.  If  the  Amos 
>tiehf>s  is  to  refer  to  this  event,  it  cannot  remain  as  it  stands. 
It  nujy  be  that  the  verse  was  doiditful  aiul  was  reconstructed  by 
a  later  redactor  in  order  to  nuik"-  it  conform  with  this  episode; 
for  that  the  event  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  mind 

[243] 


188  I'araUc'lisw  in  Amos 

of  Israel  is  seen  from  the  words:  "And  there  was  great  indig- 
nation ii^Don  Israel,  and  they  departed  from  him  and  returned 
to  their  own  land."  Still,  it  may  be  asked  if  this  event,  occur- 
ring in  850  B.C.,  did  not  occur  too  early  to  become  the  foundation 
for  Amos"  prophecy,  (b)  In  II  Chron  20.1-30  is  a  glorified 
record  of  this  same  campaign.  Herein  no  specific  act  of  bar- 
barity is  related;  moreover  the  enmity  of  Moab  and  Edom  is  due 
to  tlie  will  of  Yahwe ;  whereas  Amos  mentions  an  act  committed 
wantonly  against  the  dictates  of  common  humanity.  There  is 
sufficient  evidence,  liowever,  to  afford  the  following  reconstruc- 
tion : 

a.  'al  sor'^plio  '"gamotlv  lam-mOlel-h 

icaii-yiziax   'adliam  lash-sUcdh. 

Because  they  burned  bones  to  Moleeh, 

And  sacrificed  a  human  to  a  demon. 

Here  a  parallel  couplet  is  secured  in  conformance  to  the 
demands  of  the  type  stanza.  The  various  phrases  in  this 
restoration  are  justified  by  bil)lical  passages;  sdraph  '"cfimofh 
occui-s  in  I  K.  l:!.2 :  II  K.  '_':i.lil,  21),  and  II  Chron.  34.5,  though 
in  the  sense  of  boin's  burmd  upon  the  :iltai'  in  order  to  render 
it  unfit  for  use ;  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  phrase  in  connec- 
tion with  liuman  sacrifice  to  Moleeh  does  not  appear. 

The  words  mclekh  'cdhihu.  are  changed  in  this  restoration. 
The  reading  '(^dhum.  indeed,  is  clearly  out  of  place.  It  may 
have  arisen  out  of  a  misunderstanding  of  the  word  nuhkh  in 
conjunction  with  '"cfimoth,  and  the  frecpu'nt  occurrence  of 
iiiilrkh  ''(Ih('i)n  nuiy  have  led  to  its  insertion — at  a  time  when 
"Edom-phobia"  afflicted  the  Prophets — i.e.,  a  desire  because  of 
Edom's  ti'eatmeut  of  Judah  at  the  time  of  the  Destruction  to 
show  its  suffering  upon  any  and  every  possible  occasion.  The 
fact  that  Edom  is  the  cause  of  Moab's  punishment  and  hence 
appears  in  the  light  of  Judah 's  ally  may  have  escaped  the 
redactor.  The  reading  'a.Q'^moth  'ddham  (ef.  I  K.  13.2,  II  K. 
23.14,  20)  is  proposed  by  several  other  investigators;  Zenner  in 
D-ie  Chorgesaengcr  iiii  Biirhr  d.  i'salimii  (1896),  proposed  it 
first,  while  Hirscht  reads:  •  nr'ninlli  'ildhdin  Um-nwlehh  l-ash- 
shfdh.  This  suggestion,  liowever,  gives  merely  a  prose  line,  and 
not  a  ]iarallel  couplet. 

[244] 


I'arallfllsm  in  Amos  1S!» 

Lum-molikh  is  justititd  liy  luiintrous  passafrcs.  Alnlfcli  was 
tlie  God  to  wlioin  the  Israelites  and  tlie  other  nations  saerifieed 
hy  fire  in  the  valley  of  llinnom.  It  niijilit  lie  rif;litly  jjrotest.il. 
however,  that  the  Goil  of  the  Moahites  was  not  Moleeh,  luit 
C'lieniosh ;  l)ut  no  referenees  of  ehild  saerifiee  to  the  latter  are 
extant,  and  it  is  necessary  to  postnlate  saerifiee  before  lloleeh 
hy  Moab  in  eonjunetion  with  the  other  peoples.  Keferences  to 
this  sin  on  the  jiart  of  Judah  appear  in  II  K.  2:J.10;  Jer.  32.35, 
witii  the  words  lu'bhir  bi'i-'fsli,  "to  pass  throngrh  fire"  (ef. 
BDD,  p.  718).  A  pa-ssape  wliieh  may  perhaps  lie  at  the  bottom 
of  tile  Amos  i)hraseoloiry  oeeiu-s  in  Lev.  20.2,  3,  4 ;  here  oecurs  a 
prohibition  for  the  Israelitts  or  any  stranjrer  to  saerifiee  children 
to  Moleeh;  vei*ses  3.  ."),  contain  the  phrases  hihnlth,  W'-hikhratti, 
and  iiiiq-<iirtbh  ' ininiiilni,  which  show  likenes.ses  to  expressions 
used  in  Amos  with  rejrard  to  Moab.  The  Leviticus  pa.ssage  refers 
to  the  sin  of  the  individual,  whereas  the  Prophet  seems  to  expand 
the  punishnnnt  of  death  and  .•ompl.ti'  .xtrrniiiiatii.n  to  the 
nation. 

Th<-  |)hra.se  ;</t/i«\  'I'ldhi'im  .seems  to  receive  support  from 
IIos.  13.2,  thoujrh  the  phra.se  therein  used.  zCihh'xf  'CidhCim,  is 
doubtful  (ef.  Hnn.  p.  206)  ;  it  has  been  translated  as  "men  that 
-sacrifice"  and  as  ".sacrificei*s  of  mankin«l."  Harper  (p.  3!)G) 
wishes  to  substituti-  for  the  original  Ilosca  lint  s  thi'  couplet : 

'iidliiim  '••ghalim  yishshuijuii 
'iim  ii',bh''x'>m  lonh-ghtdhim. 

lien-  Ilosea  refci-s  to  the  sin,  not  of  any  other  nation,  but  of 
Judah,  and  human  sacrifice  is  suppo.sed  not  to  have  existed  in 
Israel  until  a  time  much  later  than  Ilosi-a,  namely  around  the 
reipn  of  Ahaz.  Hut  if  the  IIo.sea  text  is  correct  and  can  In- 
read  "saerificei-s  of  mankind,"  then  it  affords  a  basis  for  the 
restoration  of  the  Amos  stichos;  Moab  nuiy  have  l)een  one  of 
the  surrounding  nations  from  which  .ludah  learned  the  practice 
of  human  saerifiee  (ef.  Deut.  IS.IO,  33.17;  II  K.  16.3). 

The  combination  znbhax  UishshrfUi  is  found  in  I's.  1()().37. 
"and  they  sacrificed  their  sons  and  daughters  to  the  shrdhhii 
not-(t<Hl."  llirscht  suKpest.s  readin^r  hixhsh-'ilh :  thouRh  the  two 
pa.s.sapes  (pioted  n.se  it  in  the  plural,  as  a  synonym  for  Moleeh. 


^•tll 

sc. 

(•tin 

II  of  sti- 

au 

■ivr 

'lllCI 

nt   with 

I'f. 

•ct 

as  i 

t  stamb 

190  PardUrlisiii  in  Afiios 

it  is  pennissiblc  to  use  it  here  in  tl:c  singular  (cf.  BDB,  p.  99:5). 
It  is  uncertain  wlietlier  zdbhax  in  tliese  two  passages  means  sac- 
rifice by  fire  or  bj'  slaughter  (ef.  Ps.  106.38  and  Lev.  17.7;  on 
Dent.  32.17  see  Driver  on  Deuteronomy,  ICC,  pp.  362-363). 

The  sense,  then,  of  the  passage  as  emended  is  that  Moab  is 
to  be  punished  for  having  indulged  in  sacrifice  of  human  life 
by  lirr.  If  a  i^ciici'al  ])rai'ti('c  is  alluded  to,  it  must  be  confessed 
that  the  rceonst ruction  loses  some  point:  it  would  seem  strange 
for  Amos  to  predict  doom  for  ]\Ioab  because  of  one  of  its  re- 
ligious rites,  unless  it  bore  direct  relation  to  Israel  and  unless 
Israel  was  tainted  by  it.  If  the  passage  have  a  specific  applica- 
tion, it  may  refer,  despite  the  duration  of  time  between  the  event 
and  the  prophecy,  to  IMoab's  act  of  desecration  in  II  K.  3.27. 

Tile  fourth  section  of  stanza  (i  contains  two  good  parallelistic 
\pe  stanza.  The  first  couplet 
deals  will)  the  idea  of  complete 
national  death  in  battle,  a  concept  found  in  relation  to  Israel 
in  IIos.  13.1,  Ez.  18.31,  33.11,  and  in  relation  to  Moab  in  various 
prophecies  of  its  doom:  Num.  21.29,  Is.  16,7,  Jer.  48.42  (cf. 
also  verses  2,  :',,  S,  31,  46),  and  Zcpli.  2.9.  A  slight  emendation 
of  the  word  ri-iiinii.  "  [Moabl  shall  die,"  to  ir'-lu-nuittl,  "and 
1  shall  kill  |,Moab|"  (ef.  Is.  14.:!().  th,H|e|i  n,.(  used  of  a  nation), 
l>i-iiius  the  section  into  even  chis.T  cniifoniuinc..  to  the  type 
stanza;  Inr  in  ea.'li  there  staiuls  al  the  head  of  the  fourth  section 
a  fiiriii  wliich  makes  it  a|.i)eai-  as  if  (iod  himself  \ver,>  speaking 
of  his  nwii  act.  A  second  suggestion  is  to  take  w'-hikhrattl 
fniiii  llie  lie;id  of  the  second  couplet  of  the  section  to  the  first 
stichos  of  the  first,  and  to  transpose  to  its  place  fi-mffh  :  a  third 
suggestion  is  to  plac.'  ic-li isli niuillin.  '-and  I  will  destroy,"  at  the 
head  of  the  section,  to  cliiiiinate  n-liikhnillJ  and  to  substitute 
il-innh  I  sec  bcl.iwl.  The  word  h'-sha;-,H  is  jiistitiable  despite 
suggestions  made  by  several  to  cliang,'  it;  for  even  if  the  mean- 
ing were  doubtful,  the  pa rall.'lisiii  would  supply  the  sen.se  (cf. 
Hon.  10.14,  I's,  71.23;  \',\)\\.  p.  9sl).  The  phrasc  ii-theril'd 
b'  -(/nl  slr'.phiir  is  entirely  in  jilace  here,  for  hi-th'ru'n  in  stanza  5 

was   olllillid   because  of  its  correct    iisage   heiv    (ef.   .Icr.   4-19). 


I'arallelisiii  in  A  in  us  191 

Tlu'  si'L'oiid  I'tmplct  also  is  in  almost  perfect  form,  ilispiti- 
sfviM-al  minor  irrojjularitics.  The  word  ir'-hikhratti  is  a  n-pc- 
tition  from  stanza  2,  si-c.  4;  tin-  use  of  tlu-  fcminino  snftix  in 
miq-qirbuh  needs  explanation;  here  siirihfi,  "her  ])rinees, "  is 
used,  whereas  in  stanza  5  sdrdw,  "his  princes,"  oeeurred ;  more- 
over 'iiiuno  witii  the  maseuline  sufiix  is  present  in  the  second 
stiehos.  It  has  already  been  sujjtiested  to  read  for  u'-hikhr<itti 
the  word  ir'-hislnnadlitl.  In  (Ufense  of  the  present  piirase,  the 
use  of  tc'iuikhntlH  iniu,  "and  let  us  eut  her  off,"  may  be  eited 
from  .ler.  4S.2.  But  H'-hishitiaiihti  >rives  a  slight  variatio!i 
which  ailds  to  the  literary  iiuaiity  of  the  stiehos.  The  root  is 
used  in  eonjunetion  with  kdrath  and  parallel  to  it  in  P.s.  37..'JS 
and  Is.  4S.iy;  mostly  of  ])ersons.  however,  as  in  Amos  9.S,  2.!); 
Deuf.  1.27,  2.22  (cf.  mm,  1029);  of  .Aloab  as  a  whole  in  Jer. 
4S..S,  42  (nishnulilh)  ;  with  niiq-qirb'khnn,  "from  your  midst," 
in  .losh.  7.12  (ef.  also  Ezek.  14.9;  Lev.  17.10,  20.:{.  .').  Gl.  The 
words  xhi'iphit  and  silr  are  jjarallel  in  Ex.  2.14;  Zeph.  :{.!!  (where 
a  couplet  .showing  several  likent.sses  to  Amos  appears);  I'rov. 
8.16:  llos.  7.7,  I.'J.IO.  In  place  of  miq-qirhCih  it  is  sn<r!J;ested  to 
read  iiiiqqirbo  with  the  ma.seuline  suffix  (cf.  Is.  2.").  11 1  ;  the 
feminine  pronoun  has  been  taken  to  refer  to  the  bnul,  althousih 
W'cllhausiii  would  chaus^t-  it  to  the  nuisculine  and  refer  it  to 
"judfie,"  to  which  al.so  the  word  'imnio  refers. 

The  second  stiehos  of  the  couplet  is  genuinely  Amosian  in 
character.  The  form  'ihroijh  occurs  in  Amos  9.1  (ef.  4.10,  9.4), 
these  being  the  i>uly  two  biblical  pa-s-sages  where  it  occurs.  Tin' 
word  si'inhd  follows  perhaps  the  repeated  mention  of  "the 
princes  of  Moab"  (Num.  21. 2S,  22.8,  etc.).  Isaiah  24.12  ex- 
pres.se.s  with  reference  to  Ednin  a  thought  almost  identical  with 
the  one  mi-ntioiied  here  of  Moab:  "and  all  her  i)rineis'  shall  be 
nothingness":  perhaps  some  relation  between  the  two  stiehoi 
exists.  Tlu-  form  iitinto  occurs  in  Jer.  :i9.12,  the  only  other 
instance  of  its  use  in  prophetical  literature.  With  reference  to 
the  doom  of  Moab,  Jer.  48.7  has  a  ef>uplet  almost  identical  with 
Amo«<  1.1')  on  the  Ammonites;  Jeremiah  nuiy  have  been  iuHu- 
eneed  by  this  eouplit  not  only  in  his  own  prophecy  on  the 
Ammonites,  but  al.so  in  his  oracle  on   Moali:  or  the  couplet   in 

1  2-17  I 


192  Parullclisiii  in  Amos 

Jt-rciaiali  may  have  prompted  a  latt-r  scribe  to  iiisei't  a  eouplot 
in  Amos  suggesting  it;  it  seems  entirely  in  keeping  with  the 
evidence,  however,  to  affirm  the  validity  of  the  entire  fourth 
section  of  the  Amos  oracle,  and  hence,  for  the  most  part,  of  the 
entire  stanza,  for  it  contains  words  and  phrases  used  bj'  him 
alone;  its  parallelism  is  good;  its  strophic  structure,  after  slight 
emendations,  conforms  in  detail  to  the  type  stanza. 

StaXZA    7. — JUDAH 

Tlie  stanza  on  Judali  must  be  considered  as  late,  for  several 
reasons  which  Harper  (p.  44)  states:  (a)  the  fact  that  the  intro- 
duction of  the  oracle  removes  entirely  the  force  of  surprise  which 
the  Israelites  were  to  feel  when  an  attack  was  launched  against 
them;  (b)  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  Amos  would  have 
treated  Judah  so  cursorily;  (c)  the  weakness  of  the  stj'le;  (d) 
the  term  "Israel"  in  2.10  includes  Judah;  (e)  the  sin  described, 
transgressions  against  the  statutes  of  Yahwe,  was  too  indefinite 
to  call  for  a  special  oracle;  the  offense  is  out  of  harmonj^  with  the 
formula  "for  their  transgressions,"  etc.,  since  it  cannot  be  men- 
tioned as  one  of  three  or  four. 

An  argument  of  still  greater  force  than  these  which  Harper 
mentions,  is  the  strophic  structure  of  the  stanza.  It  is  identical 
with  the  stanza  on  Edimi,  i.e..  1  +  2  +  4  +  2.  It  is  also  similar 
to  stanza  3  on  Tyre,  tlmngh  the  second  section  here  contains 
not  two  but  four  slielioi.  The  doubt  thrown  on  these  two 
stanzas  attaches  also  to  the  oracle  on  -hidah.  The  second  section 
contains  four  lines,  the  first  two  of  which  form  an  apparently 
good  parallelistic  couplet  while  the  second  contains  a  relative 
clause  (see  above),  the  sense  and  grammar  of  the  passage  being 
doubtful.  If  the  stanza  is  genuine,  then  it  is  nece.ssary  to  omit 
two  lines  in  order  to  make  it  agree  with  the  model  stanza,  and  to 
restore  an  entire  fourth  section  of  foiir  lines,  or  to  affirm  that 
for  some  unaecountabh'  i-eason  the  latter  has  disappeared;  if 
on  the  other  hand,  the  stanza  is  not  genuine,  as  seems  to  be  the 
casi',  then  it  is  merely  necessary  to  discuss  its  various  phenom- 
ena, and  to  devote  little  attention  to  a  reconstruction.  It  may 
be  that  stanza  4  and  stanza  7  are  by  the  same  author. 

[248] 


I'linilhlisiii   in  Aitms  \'Xi 

The  t'voiit  ri'tVrrcil  to  in  tlie'sfi-oiul  section  is, doubt liil.  Tlie 
sill  of  .liulah  is  apostasy,  as  the  first  t'oupK-t  portrays;  the  sec- 
ond couplet  may  refer  eitlier  to  tiie  activity  of  the  false  propliets, 
or  to  idolatry  and  apostasy  also.  Tiiouj^h  tln-rc  were  several 
kings  liefore  Amos  who  had  been  fruilty  of  apostasy,  durinj;  the 
time  of  the  Prophet  the  kinjjs  Ama/iah  and  Uz/iah  were  on  tiie 
whole  ri;rhteons  nders.  followinij:  in  the  path  of  Yahwisni ;  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  such  a  period  of  national  aposta.sy 
as  would  occasion  a  denunciation  by  Amos,  tlioufih  it  may  be 
admitted  tJuit  at  no  time  was  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  so 
pure  that  an  attack  by  a  prophet  was  impossible.  But  since 
no  occasion  of  real  note  ofTei-s  it.self  durinj!:  the  time  of  Amos, 
it  is  necessary  to  look  elsewhere  for  material  underlyin*;  the 
oracle.  The  reign  of  Aha/,  immediately  following  the  death 
of  Amos,  may  have  furnished  the  occasion  for  the  fii-st  couplet, 
and  the  reign  of  JIana.sseli  for  the  second. 

The  first  couplet  of  the  second  section  apiu-ars  ti>  refer  to 
the  reign  of  Ahaz  and  lloshea  (c.  721  ii.c.).  In  II  K.  IS.TtT. 
appears  a  long  .statement  of  the  sins  of  the  king  of  Israel  which 
finally  brought  on   the  destruction   of  the  Northern   Kingdom. 

The  reference  to  Judah  occurs  only  in  verses  19-22,  but  the 
language  and  the  thought,  though  ai)plying  specifically  to 
Israel,  may  have  referred  also  to  Judah.  Linguistic  similarities 
in  this  ])as.sage  to  Amos  are  numerous,  especially  in  verses  7,  8, 
12.  l:},  14,  ];">,  18.  The  use  of  the  sentence,  "and  they  walked 
after  vanity  and  did  vainly"  (verse  1.5),  which  appears  also  in 
■ler.  2.."),  suggests  a  late  origin  for  the  passage.  The  linguistic 
iiiiiitities  point  to  the  possibility  that  the  redactor  wrote  the 
second  .section  of  the  oracle  in  Amos  with  a  view  to  linking  the 
prophecy  with  the  events  of  the  two  great  periods  of  national 
backsliding,  namely,  during  the  days  of  Ahaz.  and  of  Manasseh 

tiS(>-641  u.t).      It  ha.s  been  urged,  too,  that  the  language  of 

the    Amos    pas.sage    is    Deuteronomic    in    character.       During 

•  '>>siah's  reign  (II  Chron.,  ehap.  :J4)  the  phra.ses  present  in  Amos 

•  re  freipiently  employed  and  may  then  have  received  currency; 

iiid  this  may  had  to  the  impression  that  the  passage  on  'ludah 
was  remwlelled  after  the  reign  of  .losiah    (689-608  h.c).      In 


[  240 


11)4  Panillilisiii  in  Amos 

view  of  this  fact,  it  may  \w  said  that  the  redactor  of  the 
Judali  prophecy  maj'  not  have  intended  any  specific  era  in 
Judah's  history,  bnt  mereh'  compiled  a  list  of  sins  from  the 
Deuteronomic  code,  sniBcient  to  give  the  prophecy  a  semblance 
of  originality  and  authority.  To  find  affinity  between  the  lan- 
guage of  the  passages  referring  to  the  reign  of  Ahaz  and 
Manasseh  and  the  Amos  phrases,  then,  would  be  far-fetched  and 
dangerous  (cf.  Is.  5.24,  where  almost  the  exact  phraseologj'  of 
Amos  occurs :  this  might  point  to  the  origin  of  the  Amos  couplet 
around  the  time  of  Ahaz).  The  following  conclusions  on  the 
first  couplet  may,  however,  be  offei-ed :  (a)  either  it  refers  to 
the  period  of  apostasy  during  the  reign  of  Ahaz;  this  would 
bring  this  redaction  into  harmony  with  the  redaction  of  the  other 
doubtful  stanzas;  or  (b)  the  prophecy  was  edited  after  the  reign 
of  Josiah,  and  is  of  a  general  Deuteronomic  character. 

The  .second  couplet  is  indubitably  late.  Harper  regards  it 
as  a  gloss.  The  Septuagint's  rendition  gives  this  type  of 
appositional  parallelism : 

And  their  lies  led  them  astray  wliicli  they  did, 

After  which  their  fathers  walked. 

The  event  referred  to  in  the  passage  is  doubtful.  In  II  K. 
21.1-9  and  II  Chron.  33.8  f?.  there  are  accounts  of  the  apostasy 
of  Manasseh  of  Judah,  which  show  striking  linguistic  identities 
with  the  Amos  couplet.  In  verse  9  of  each  passage  occurs  the 
phrase  "and-led-astray  Manasseh,"  inni-jiath' I'm  M^nashshe  and 
waii-yetha'  31<^n.ashshe  'eth-Y'^hudhfi :  in  II  K.  21.10ff.  is  a  record 
of  the  activities  of  the  prophets  during  the  period  of  Manasseh  ; 
they  did  not  "go  astray,"  but  aetrd  as  tlie  mouthpiece  of  Yahwe 
(cf.  Is.  34.11  and  28.17). 

A  closer  examination  of  the  language  used  offers  further 
evidence  for  the  probable  date  of  the  passage.  The  word  td'd, 
"to  err, ■■  appears  in  IIos.  4.12  with  reference  to  idolatrj-; 
Isaiali  uses  it,  but  nieri'ly  in  the  sense  of  aimlessly  wandering, 
or  walking.  It  refers  best  to  the  activities  of  false  prophets 
and  may  perhaps  have  been  inserted  in  Amos  by  a  later  redactor 
because  of  his  own  attitude  towards  tlie  jirofessional  foretellers 
(ef.   7.17  i.       It    is   used   of  these   fals,.   prophets   in   Mieah   3.5: 


[2oo: 


I'arallrlism  in  Amos  1!)') 

.ItTfiuiali,  who  is  wry  bitti-r  iifjainst  tlicni.  uses  it  in  liis  ilcmiii- 
ciatioii  in  2.1.9-41);  vcrsi-  1:5  iias:  "tlifv  proplu-sifd  in  Haal  and 
causfd  to  err  my  ]>f(i|ilc  Israel' "  (wuiz-yath' ft)  ;  vei-se  :32  has: 
"aiul  tiii-y  caiisfd  to  irr  my  people  by  tlieir  falsehoods  and  by 
their  lifrlitness.  '  Tliis  passajrc  in  the  lifiht  of  other  similarities 
may  be  the  foundation  of  the  eouplet  in  Amos;  Ezek.,  eiiap.  Vi, 
also  furnishes  data  for  the  interpretation  of  tiie  passatre  as 
applicable  to  tlie  false  prophets. 

I'pon  tile  interpretation  of  the  word  kiz'bhrhcin  will  depend 
in  lar<:e  degree  the  construction  of  the  eouplet.  To  understand 
the  word  as  "idols"  is  entirely  unsatisfactory;  in  no  otlier 
instance  dws  the  idea  of  idols  "leadintr  a.stray"  occur;  it  is 
usually  a  person,  not  an  inanimate  thing,  that  is  resjionsible 
for  the  error.  If  it  is  desired  to  make  the  stichos  refer  to  idols 
in  order  to  create  a  sort  of  conformity  with  the  second  stichos, 
it  is  ncces-sary  either  to  insert  an  entire  new  line  or  to  add  ircr- 
tain  words  which  will  nuike  tiie  stichos  siiecify  definitely  idols; 
for  two  probabilities  exist:  (a)  either  stichos  1  of  this  eouplet 
must  be  brought  into  correct  ri'lationship  to  stichos  2;  this  would 
necessitate  the  omission  of  tiie  present  first  stichos.  or  an  emen- 
dation to  include  definitely  the  word  or  idea  of  "idols";  (b) 
or  the  fii-st  stichos  must  be  taken  to  refer  to  false  jirophets,  as 
almost  all  the  passages  demand  that  it  should  be  interpreted; 
this  will  necfssitate  the  emendation  of  the  second  stichos  to 
l>ring  it  into  relation  with  the  first  and  in  order  to  produce  a 
eouplet  in  good  parallelism. 

Emendations  on  the  basis  of  tiie  idea  of  "idolatry"  arc 
numerous: 

1.  .\ml  ttic  soers  of  lies  Icii   tlicm  n.stniy   to   Baals, 

After  wliieti  their  fotliers  walked.  • 

uray-i/iith'  um  qus'mc  khacabh  tab-b''alim 
'■'nhrr  hiit''kliS    '■>bhotham    VixTr/icni. 

For  the  phrase  qos'mc  khdzi'ibli  or  x'''''  klulziibh,  "dreamers  of 
lies,"  see  Eztk.  l^J.S.  Except  for  the  ambiguity  concerning  the 
subject  of  the  verb  in  the  fii-st  stichos,  tiie  following  suggestions 
might  be  acceptable: 

2.  Anil  they  led  astrnr  by  their  lies  the  people. 
And  after  other  gods  they  walked. 

[251] 


196  I'anillcli.sm  in  Amos 

The  fdriii  h' -kli ii^bhflicin,  "l)y  their  lies,'"  is  sanetioned  by  a 
similar  usage  though  with  different  synonyms  in  Jer.  23.32. 
For  the  phrase  "to  lead  astray  the  people,"  see  Is.  9.14^15; 
Mic.  3.5 ;  Ezek.  13.19 ;  Jer.  23.13,  32 ;  Is,  3.12.  A  comparison  of 
this  prophecy  in  Amos  with  Ezek.,  chap.  20,  p<issim,  and  with 
Jer.  16.11  ff.,  and  Jer.  9.12-16  shows  the  most  striking  similari- 
ties between  them  all,  and  gives  further  substantiation  for  the 
thought  that  the  Amos  passage  is  not  genuine.  The  form  of 
Jer.  9.12-16  is  almost  identical  with  the  Amos  strophic  struc- 
ture; the  identity  of  the  language  also  points  to  an  interplay 
of  inflvience.  Any  of  these  passages  may  serve  as  a  basis 
for  the  reconstruction  of  the  doubtful  Amos  verses. 

Emendation.s  based  especially  upon  the  idea  of  false  prophets 
can  find  their  foundation  in  the  various  denunciations :  Jer. 
1-i.Uff.,  21). 8-10,  23.9-10;  Ezek.  13.1tf.,  14.9-11;  ilie.  3.r)ff.,  and 
elsewhere.  This  of  course  implies  that  the  Amos  passage  is  late; 
the  emendations  are  suggested  merely  to  clarify  the  idea  set 
down  by  the  later  redactor  : 

3.  And  the  prophets  by  tlieir  lyiug  led  them  astray, 

Those  who  walk  after  their  own  spirit. 

wai/-yatlt'  um  b'^-klmzz'^l/ham  han-n'^'bhl'im 

'"slur  hdUlliu   'axar  ruxam. 

The  idea  of  false  prophets  as  those  who  walk  after  their  own 
.spirit  and  devices  is  found  in  Mie.  2.11,  in  Jer.  23.17,  18,  26, 
etc. ;  the  exact  phrase  here  used  in  the  second  stichos  is  present 
in  Ezek.  13.2.  Variations  on  this  emendation  are  numerous, 
depending  on  tlie  sulistitutiou  of  various  possible  formations  in 
the  first  stichos. 

The  following  conclusions  on  tiie  Judah  oracle  may  then  be 
made;j(l)  The  prophecy  may  have  been  inserted  in  part  during 
the  reign  of  Ahaz  or  slightly  after;  this  would  link  it  with  the 
redaction  of  the  other  stanzas.  (2)  A  second  and  later  redaction 
may  have  been  made  after  the  reign  of  ]\Ianasseh,  with  a  view 
of  reference  to  the  apostasies  of  his  time ;  this  edition  may  have 
appeared  during  the  reign  of  Josiah,  after  the  activities  of  Jere- 
miah. (3)  Or  the  prophecy  may  have  been  inserted  for  the 
first  time  after  the  Exile  in  586  B.C.  to  explain  the  cause  of 
Judah "s  overthrow;  this  might  imply  a  redaction  on  the  basis 

[  2.52  ] 


I'ariillrlisni  in  Amos  197 

of  tlu>  pn-cctlintr  proplicts  and  particularly  of  Ezekicl.  (4) 
Or  it  may  be  that  tiioutfli  the  oracle  was  composed  in  some  form 
at  an  earlier  time,  it  obtained  admission  into  the  text  after  the 
Exile;  it  seems  almost  certain  that  an  eilition  was  made  in  post- 
exilic  times. 

Stanza  8. — Iskaf.i. 

The  stanza  on  Israel,  apparently  the  climax  to  wliicli  Amos 
has  been  leading,  bejiins  in  conformance  with  the  other  stanzas; 
the  prophetic  prelude  and  the  introductory  formula  occur  as 
elsewhere  in  the  Sonjr;  the  openiiifr  word  of  wluit  siiould  be  the 
second  section  is  Uil  with  an  infinitive  plus  the  plural  suffix;  a 
couplet  in  good  parallelism  seems  to  indicate  that  the  stanza 
will  conform  to  the  type.  H\it  then  the  break  comes;  parallel- 
ism is  maintained,  but  the  prophecy  continues  in  the  strain  of 
denunciation  for  several  couplets;  the  offense  of  social  injustice 
is  elaborated ;  the  punishment  formula  couplet  is  entirely  miss- 
ing, as  well  as  the  fourth  section  and  postlude.  Thus  its  strophic 
structure  is  .seen  to  depart  entirely  from  the  type  stanza. 

Several  questions  arise.  Did  Amos  deliver  the  prophecies 
on  the  nations  at  one  and  the  same  time,  begiiniing  with  the 
foreign  nations  of  Syria,  Philistia,  the  Ammonites,  and  Moab, 
and  finally  proclaim  the  sins  of  Israel?  If  so,  was  the  stanza 
on  Israel  originally  composed  in  agreement  with  the  model 
stanza?  Or  did  the  Prophet  merely  use  the  intrfxluctory  pre- 
lude and  formula  to  link  this  pro|)hecy  on  Israel  with  the  others, 
and  then  launch  into  a  spirited  attack  wherein  his  prophetic 
mood  would  have  free  play.  unliDund  by  the  demands  of  exact 
regularity  ? 

On  the  other  hand  it  nuiy  be  asked:  Did  Amos  deliver  the 
l)roi)hiciis  separately,  each  at  a  ilitTereiit  time  and  on  a  different 
occasion?  This  would  imply  that  at  .some  future  date  he  edited 
the  entire  serii-s,  having  used  the  stanza  structure  in  each,  but 
remodelling  them  in  the  fonn  of  one  continuous  piece.  Or  did 
Amas  deliver  merely  the  prophecies  on  thi>  surrounding  nations 
at  one  time,  while  the  oracle  on  Israel  came  at  a  later  date? 
This  supposition  sicms  plausible.      The  stanzjis  on  the  neighbor 

(233  I 


198  PuraUelism  in  Amos 

ing:  peoples  may  constitute  one  poetic  unit,  while  the  oracle  on 
Israel  is  either  in  itself  intact,  or  the  compilation  of  several 
pronouncements.  Amos  himself  in  his  own  edition  may  have 
inserted  the  introductory  phrase  and  formula  in  order  to  add 
psychological  weight  to  tin'  denunciation,  and  to  make  it  appear 
one  of  a  series  of  which  it  is  the  climax.  Or,  as  .seems  more 
credible,  a  later  editor,  reviewing  the  entire  text,  and  making 
the  additions  on  Tyre,  Edom  and  -Judah,  may  have  sought  to 
join  Isi'ael  to  the  Doom  Song,  and  hence  placed  at  the  head  of 
a  group  of  prophetic  utterances  the  identifj'ing  prelude  and 
formula.  This  tendency'  to  include  all  the  nations  in  the  list 
of  doomed  peoples  may  have  been  stimulated  and  encouraged  by 
the  practice  of  the  later  Prophets,  who  denounced  the  surround- 
ing nations  and  at  the  same  time  their  own ;  a  later  redactor 
seeing  the  texts  of  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  Isaiah  in  the  form 
of  one  continuous  work,  may  have  turned  back  to  Amos  and 
noting  the  presence  of  a  list  of  doom  songs,  brought  them  by 
modifications  and  additions  into  line  with  the  plan  of  these  later 
prophets.  This  would  further  support  the  hypothesis  that  the 
most  important  redaction  of  the  Amos  text,  or  at  least,  of  a  part 
of  it,  occurred  after  the  edition  of  the  works  of  Ezekiel,  or  prob- 
ably even  later. 

Hence  the  apparent  discrepancy  of  the  oracle  on  Israel  need 
not  disturb  the  belief  in  a  type  stanza.  For  the  utterance  falls 
entirely  outside  the  discussion  concerning  a  model  formation 
because  of  its  own  intrinsic  peculiariaties.  The  existence  of  a 
type  stanza  still  remains  a  strong  hypothesis. 

DATE  OF  THE  PROPHECY 

The  internal  evidences  of  the  date  of  the  Doom  Song  are  of 
course  not  entirely  trustworthy ;  as  they  stand,  however,  the 
following  data  have  been  gathered : 

Stanza  1.  Stichoi  b,  c,  and  possibly  d  of  section  4  ajipear  to 
be  later  insertions  after  721  B.C. 

Stanza  2.  The  second  section  of  this  stanza  points  to  the 
fact  that  the  text  wan  retouched  either  (1)  after  721  b.o.  ;  (2) 
after  the  ajipcarance  of  the  projihecies  of  Jeremiah  (c.  600  B.C.)  ; 


l-anillrlism  in  Amos  litl) 

('A)  after  tlie  apiu-ariiiK-o  ul'  the  jirophooics  ut  K/ikicI  in  post- 
I'xilii'  (lays;  thi-n-  is  a  siijrlit  possibility  of  aiiotiuT  rcdaflion 
aniuiul  H')()  II. r.  The  ftdirtii  section  shows  I'viili-m-f  of  rcchu'tioii 
in  the  lij;iit  of  tiii'  ICzt-kicl  passaf;es  in  jxtst-exilif  days,  with  a 
l)ossil)ility  of  anotlii  r  ndai-tion  around  :i.")()  it.c. 

ytanza  :i.  This  stanza  may  iiavi-  ln'cii  iiilindiu-c'd  and  iv- 
t-dit.-d  (1)  aft.T  T'Jl  n.r. ;  rl)  aft.r  r)7()  n.r.,  on  the  basis  of 
material  in  Ezekiel.  Another  redaction  took  place  perhaps 
around  ;jr)()  ii.i'. 

Stanza  4.  This  iirophecy  may  have  been  inti-oduced  by 
Amos  and  n-i-dited  (1)  after  721  u.c;  {'2)  after  the  propiiecies 
of  .Jeremiah  (c.  600  n.c.)  ;  ('.])  most  |>roimlily  in  post-exilic  times 
after  586  n.c.  Then-  is  a  jirobability  of  aiiotlier  redaction 
around  HoO  n.c.  (time  of  Nehemiah). 

Stanza  ').  The  stanza  may  have  bei-n  retouched  (1)  after 
7J1  II. c.  (second  section)  ;  (2)  after  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah 
(e.  (JOO  2.U.).     Another  redaction  is  probable  after  the  Exile. 

Stanza  6.  This  prophecy  is  <reiiuine  and  may  have  been 
retouched  after  600  n.i-. 

Stanza  7.  This  oracle  nniy  have  been  inserted  into  Amos 
and  reedited  (1)  after  721  n.f. ;  (2)  after  the  time  of  Manasseh 
and  thi-  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  (c.  600  n.c.)  ;  ('i)  after  the  writ- 
in^rs  of  Ezekiel.  in  post-exilic  days  (i.e.,  after  570  n.c). 

A  summary  of  this  evidence  pained  in  each  instance  from 
independent  investigation  of  each  unit  is  as  follows: 

1.  Parts  of  stanzas  1,  2,  5.  6  are  "rennine;  tlie.sc  include  the 
formulas  and  other  material  mentioned  above.  This  was  in  all 
probability  the  work  of  Amos,  perhaps  around  7");")  n.c. 

2.  The  first  redaction  of  the  prophecy  was  made  after  the 
fall  of  Samaria,  around  the  period  between  721  and  700  n.c; 
revisions  and  in.sertions  were  made. 

:J.  Another  redaction  took  j>lace.  perha|>s  durinj;  the  days  of 
.Mana-s-seh,  or  later  after  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  (c.  600  B.C.). 

4.  Another  redaction  appears  to  have  been  made  after  the 
Destruction,  undi-r  the  influence  of  Ezekiel's  works  (e.  570  B.C.). 

5.  There  is  a  slipht  probability  of  another  minor  revision 
.ironnd  :l.")0  B.C. 


200  Parallelism  in  Amos 

It  is  thus  evident  that  many  hands  went  into  the  formation 
of  tlie  text  which  has  come  down  to  the  present  day.  Houtsma 
is  surely  mistaken  in  ascribing  the  entire  prophecy  to  post- 
exilic  times ;  the  degree  to  which  his  surmise  seems  to  be  correct 
can  be  seen  from  the  tables  here  given. 

COXCLUSIOXS  ON  THE  DOOM  SONG 

In  the  light  of  the  evidence  deduced  from  an  examination 
of  the  Amos  Doom  Song,  the  following  tentative  conclusions  may 
be  proposed : 

1.  There  is  a  type  stanza  consisting  ofl  +  2  +  2-f-2  +  4-fl 
periods.  There  are  four  main  sections,  the  first  on  the  general 
offense  which  remains  constant ;  the  second  on  the  specific  offense 
which  varies  with  each  nation;  the  third  on  the  general  punish- 
ment which  remains  constant ;  the  fourth,  consisting  of  two 
couplets,  on  the  specific  punishment  wliieh  varies  with  each 
nation.  There  are  a  short  prophetic  prelude  and  postlude  which 
remain  constant. 

2.  Four  stanzas  of  the  Song  conform  to  this  type,  namely : 
stanza  1  on  Syria;  stanza  2  on  Philistia:  stanza  5  on  the  Am- 
monites; stanza  6  on  Moab.  The  vai-iations  within  these  four 
type  stanzas  are  of  a  minor  character  and  are  due  either  to  cor- 
ruptions of  the  text  through  the  passage  of  time  and  freqiient 
redactions  or  to  the  insertion  and  addition  of  stichoi  and  phrases 
by  later  editors  who  sought  to  bring  the  text  of  the  prophecies 
up  to  date ;  tliere  are  several  slight  variations  of  phrase  due  to 
the  interplay  and  influence  of  other  texts  in  tlie  proplietieal  and 
historical  books;  there  are  minor  variations  due  either  to  the 
whim  or  carelessness  of  the  original  or  later  author  and  redactor. 

3.  Three  stanzas  do  not  conform  to  the  type,  namely:  stanza 
3  on  T.yre;  stanza  4  on  Edom;  stanza  7  on  Judah.  These  are 
the  major  variations  of  the  Song  and  may  be  explained  as  later 
insertions  and  additions,  either  to  bring  the  prophecy  of  Amos 
up  to  date,  to  complete  the  series  of  oracles  in  tlie  light  of  the 
works  of  the  later  Prophets,  or  to  give  vent  to  the  liostility 
against  nations  which  during  the  time  of  tlie  redaction  or  slightly 

[  2.56  ] 


I'arallilisiii  in  Amos  201 

bi-fore  had  mist  rent  iil  Israel  and  Judali.  Siiu'c  these  portions 
are  not  orijrinal  with  Amos,  they  do  not  atlVet  tiie  eonelusion 
that  tlie  <renuine  oraeU-s  of  Amos  were  Iti  tlie  form  of  tlie  model 
St  an /.a. 

4.  The  eonjiU't  strueture  prevails  tiirout;iiout  the  entire  re- 
constructed poem  in  complete  rcfrularity.  It  has  been  found 
that  where  the  couplet  formation  is  broken,  vagueness  of  idea, 
corruption  of  text,  and  <;jcneral  confusion  arc  present.  The 
reformation  of  the  stichoi  on  the  basis  of  parallelism  elim- 
inates the  difficulties;  thoufrh  the  couplet  formation  is  denuuuled, 
synonymity  of  exact  order  between  the  stichoi  has  not  always 
been  possible ;  however,  an  arran-iement  merely  on  the  basis  of 
rhythmical  symmetry  or  of  a  distant  synthetic  character  has 
been  avoiiled.  The  reconstructed  couplets  show  rejrular  and 
fairly  dose  parallelism  of  terms,  as  well  as  of  idesus. 

It  may  now  be  asked  in  the  lijrlit  of  the  results  attaineil  from 
a  discussion  of  the  Grief  Song;,  the  two  pail's  of  Visions,  and  the 
Doom  Son;;:  If  a  regular  type  stanza,  comparable  in  many  re- 
spects to  the  normality  of  stanza  present  in  modern  poems,  is 
present,  to  what  degree  is  the  same  motif  used  in  the  other 
prophetical  liooks?  The  methods  applied  to  Amos  lit  also  the 
study  of  the  portions  of  seemingly  strophie  regularity  in  Isaiah 
r).:26-L'9,  9.7-10.4  (see  (;ray,  ICC,  p.  177tT.)  ;  Ezekiel  2.').1-17 
and  parts  of  Jeremiah.  There  it  will  be  found  that  the  same 
phenomena  are  to  large  extent  present,  though  the  poi'm  in 
Amos,  chaps.   1-2,  is  uniipie  for  its  pei-sistent   interparallelism. 


Parallelism  in  Ainos 


Cl.ASSIP'ICATIOX    AND   TaBLES 

Twn  iiiajoi-  ]ii-olilciiis  will  tind  attempted  answers  in  the  fnl- 
lowinu-  talilis  l;as((l  dii  an  investigation  of  the  hook  of  Amos. 
These  ai-e:  ili  the  li(inndaries  of  prose  and  jioetry  and  their 
interplay:  ( l2 1  the  cliaraeter,  value  and  plaee  of  monostiehs  in 
prophetie  literature.  The  elassitieations  here  <;ivon  are  by  no 
means  entirely  accurate,  for  several  instances  seem  to  demand 
listing  under  more  than  one  category;  it  has  been  necessary, 
liowever,  to  select  the  dominant  trait  of  the  stichoi  and  to  classify 

The  unit  for  these  tables  has  been  the  "period,"  which  sig- 
nifies a  clearly  mai'ked  divisicin  in  the  thought,  regardless  of 
rhythuiieal,  uieti'ieal  (ir  any  similar  considerations.  Although 
the  ])eri(id  tlius  is  the  basis  of  this  classification,  yet  in  the 
second  part  of  the  table,  the  grouping  of  the  stichoi  into  couplets 
has  been  kept  in  mind.  Excluding  the  introductory  and  clos- 
ing prophetie  phrases,  sucli  as  "thus  saith  the  Lord,"  "it  is 
the  oracle  of  Yahwe, "  etc.,  wliich  appear  to  stand  outside  the 
major  portion  of  the  text,-''-  the  following  is  the  number  of 
periods  in  each  chapter: 

Chapter  1   47 

Chapter  2  40' 

Chapter  3  43 

Chapter  4  41 

Chapter  5  _ 71 

Chapter  6  37 

Chapter  7  48 

Chapter  8  42 

Chajiter  9  58 

Total    436 

232  The  prelude  and  postlude  prophetic  phrases:  "Thus  saith  the  Lord," 
"and  Yahwe  spoke,"  and  numerous  others  occur  in  the  form  of  siugle  Hues 
mainly,  and  oceasionan.y  in  the  form  of  a  distich.  Tlicrc  .in-  about  fifty- 
live  periods  of  prelude  phrases,  and  twenty-four  ]••  •  M.i-  ,.i  |  ci-tlude.  Of 
the   former  about  eighteen   are   in   the   form   of   di-  n    wliich   no 

syuoiiyniity  of  course  is  present,  but  which  may   I"     :      :  "iiie  rliyth- 

niical  principle.  This  is  very  doubtful,  however,  ;uil  i[  i-  I"  -i  tu  conclude 
of  both  single  stichoi  and  distiehs  that  they  have  little  or  nu  value  in  the 
schematic  arrangement  of  the  text;  they  are  neutral  in  point  of  content 
and  tone-accent. 


[258] 


I'linilUlisin  ill  Amos  2(K} 

Tlir  t.Tiiis  wliii'h  ar.'  .•inplny-.l   in  tlif  tal.lrs  d  .•x|>laiia- 

tioii.  ••(n-miiiif"  paralli'lism  iiK-liulcs  llius.-  stichi.i  in  parallel 
couplets  wliieii  are  puruliel  as  tliey  stand,  tlioutrli  sometimes  a 
slijiiit  textual  ehanjre  is  Meeessary.  I'sually  the  style  of  tiiese 
-stii'lioi  is  synonymous  or  antitlietie  parallelism;  the  u\nnl)er  ot' 
terms  is  dominautly  three,  thon-rh  in  the  examples  of  alternate 
pariillelism  (in  the  tahle  each  stiehos  of  alternate  parallelism 
counts  as  two  periods),  more  than  three  terms  are  present.  The 
term  "syuthetie""  parallelism  is  used  to  ilesignate  the  paralh'l 
stielioi  which  are  not  in  close  synonymous  parallelism.  \m\  which 
are  rhythmically  symmetrical  and  in  a  complementary  or  appo- 
sitional  relationship.  Such  synthetic  couplets  are  called  here 
'•dear*'  when  dose  thou^'ht  ai)iiroximation  is  present  and  the 
text  is  unmarred  though  corresjiondence  of  terms  may  he  lack- 
iu'r;  ••douhtful"  desifTiiatcs  those  stichoi  whcn-in  parallelism 
seems  to  he  concealed  while  merely  rhythmical  ecpiality  appears 
and  the  existing;  text  is  obscure  in  sense  and  jrraunnar.      liider 

Table  1.— P.vrallelistic  Poetbv 

synthetic 


Clear         Douhlful 

Ctiaptor  1 3r>  ....  4 

l'lmpt.r  2 34  ....  2 

Clin|itrr  3 29  ....  4 

Clinpttr  4 It!  4  6 

t'lmi>tiT  .'> 42  t>  4 

Clmptor  t) 24  2  2 

Clmpfor  7 20  ....  4 

(.'tinpt.T  8 24  ....  10 

Clinptor  9 30  2  0 


14  42 


lirainl  total 


Normal   pnrallt>li»in   (Bpnuiiic  and  clear  syn- 

Irrojiiilar   parnllcliiiin ."4 

Table  2.— Sheer  Pkosi: 
Siipt-rsoription  1.1 


(  2.19 


204  raraUdisiii  hi  A»ws 

the  heading  "synthetic"  are  ineluded  also  the  "in  order  that," 
the  "that-say"  and  the  relative  clauses  discussed  above.  It 
must  be  noted,  then,  that  the  term  "synthetic"  includes  stichoi 
which  only  by  the  slightest  degree  may  be  included  under 
parallelism ;  which,  in  fact,  were  they  not  surrounded  by  par- 
allelistie  couplets,  would  not  be  considered  parallel  any  more 
than  similar  distichs  are  in  modern  poetry.  Though  these 
couplets  are  clearly  poetry  by  reason  of  their  elevation  of  lan- 
guage, their  imagery  and  when  measured  b.y  other  canons,  yet 
they  stand  in  the  twilight  zone  between  parallelistic  and  non- 
parallelistie  poetry,  and  incline  more  to  the  latter  than  to  the 
former  division. 


Table  3. — Twilight  Zone  Between  Prose  and  Poetry 

This  table  includes  those  stiehoi  which  are  in  the  middle 
ground  between  prose  and  poetry.  The  category  "mixture" 
designates  the  verse  wherein  prose  and  parallelistic  formations 
are  combined;  thei'e  are  two  cases  where  ka-'^xher  is  used,  and 
the  styh'  lii'cniiirs  doubtful:  there  aiv  s.'vrral  "traditional" 
expressions  whii-li  may  liave  bfcn  coiivriitioiial  with  the  ]U'ophetic 
schools;  tinally  tlnrr  is  tin-  lldnvw  prototype  for  tlio  s,if  of  the 
Arable;  here  there  are  two  classes,  the  first,  which  is  iion-synony- 
mous,  and  the  second,  which  is  startlingly  synommious;  rhyme, 
of  course,  is  missing.  All  the.se  lines  are  extra  long  and  have 
not  the  terseness  and  three-term  structure  of  the  usual  poetic 
parallelism. 


Traditii 

Chapter  2 2 

Chapter  ti 6 

Cliapter  4 

Cliapter  r, 2 

Chapter  7 

Chapter  9 4 

14 


[260] 


I'lirttlltlism  in  Amos  205 


Table  -1. — MoNosTicns 


AiiotluT  table  is  lU't'issary  in  a  foiisiilcratioii  of  tlic  t\vili>;iit 
/one  betwei'ii  prose  and  poetry  in  order  to  show  tiie  eliaraeter 
and  value  of  the  various  isolated  stiehoi  whieh  are  present  in 
Amos.  A  jiroup  eonies  more  properly  within  the  donuiin  of 
poetry  jii-oper,  i.e.,  the  stiehoi  whieh  appear  to  be  "survivals" 
of  ori-riiud  couplets;  the  stiehoi  whieh  are  remnants  of  eouplets 
but  whieh  are  now  in  "triplets"  differ  slifrhtly  from  the  former 
eatefrory  in  tliat  the  eases  there  ineluded  will  be  found  to  be 
separate  sections  of  the  Doom  Soufr.  Single  stiehoi  make  up 
"refrains"  in  poems  where  interparallelism  is  present,  and  cer- 
tain "introductory" -stiehoi  in  interparalleli.stic  stanzas  likewise 
are  minus  complementary  stiehoi.  Xear-prose  material  includes 
the  "prophetic,"  and  the  "traditional"  and  "narrativi'"  stiehoi. 


t'liaptor  1 i 

( 'Imptor  2.....'. ~       1 

ClinptiT  3 „ _. 

(.'linpter  4 _ 

I'linptor  5 _ 

L'Imptor  6 

t'lmi>ti'r  7 

t'hnpter  8 _.     ._ 

tlinptor  9 _ 


Nr..\RPROSE 
rrophptic  Trndit 


Chapter   1 

Chapter  2 1  2 

Chapter  3 


Cliapter   4 2  ....  1 

Chapter   5 5  1  1 

Chapter    6 1  ._  2 

Chapter   7 —  ....  12 

Chapter   8 3  .._  2 

Chapter  9 2  .._  1 


[261] 


206  Paralh'Usni  in  Amos 


CONCLUSIOiS'S 


The  following  conclusions  with  respect  to  the  two  problems 
referred  to  above  can  thus  be  drawn : 

Sheer  prose  iu  Amos  is  very  rare,  the  only  two  pieces  which 
maintain  it  over  am'  stretch  being  the  superscription  and  a 
doubtful  narrative  poi'tion. 

Genuine  parallelistic  sticlioi  prcdomiuate,  being  found  to 
the  extent  of  nearly  five-sixths  of  the  instances.  Between  these 
two  poles  there  are  many  grades  of  poetry  verging  into  j^rose 
bj'  ascending  degrees.  The  so-called  synthetic  couplets  con- 
tain clear  stichoi  iu  a  rhythmical,  symmetrical,  but  non-corre- 
spondent relationship.  Doubtful  s.ynthetic  couplets  embrace 
those  iu  a  rhythmical  arrangement  wherein  the  text  is  doubtful, 
and  at  times  the  degree  of  unity  of  thought  between  the  two 
stichoi  is  weak.  Several  special  forms,  relative,  conjunctival, 
and  quotational,  fall  within  this  category;  they  are  undoiibtedly 
pfietieal  but  liave  lost  tlieir  jiarallelisin. 

The  twiliglit  zone  between  prose  and  poetry  contains  various 
shades  of  parallelism  and  non-jjarallelism.  Traditional  conven- 
tional phrases  are  grouped  in  rhythmical  couplets  wherein 
synonymity  is  lacking;  simile  couplets  are  emploj'ed,  headed  in 
one  stichos  by  the  conjunction  "just  as,"  wherein  a  prosaic 
style  is  noticeable;  a  mixture  of  prose  and  parallelistic  poetry 
is  found  in  rare  instances.  Finally  close  to  prose,  is  a  saj'  form 
which  either  occurs  without  synonymity  but  with  a  certain 
rhythmical  balance;  or,  as  in  the  Araliic,  is  niai-ked  by  synonym- 
ity and  fairly  close  correspondence  of  terms.  All  these  lines 
arc  loui:':  some  are  a  form  and  an  outgrowth  of  alternate  par- 
allelism. These  are  fruitful  examples  for  an  investigation  into 
the  rhythmical  priuciples  back  of  Hebrew  poetry  and  prose. 
It  would  seem  also  from  the  synonymous  and  correspondent 
character  of  the  saf  illustrations  that  parallelism  marks  not 
merely  the  terse  bona  fide  iioetry.  but  also  the  near-pro.se  of 
Hebrew.  In  addition  it  may  be  thai  herein  is  to  be  found  the 
third  type  of  Ilebi'ew  ])i'()sody  wliieh  (iray  seeks,  but  does  not 
find,  in  his  analysis  (see  Funiis.  p.  4(j ;  also  above,  p.  53). 

[  262  ] 


I'antllillsm  iit  Amos  207 

On  tin*  prolili'in  of  tlie  ivlation  nl'  I'liuplfts  to  triplets  ami 
nioiiostii'hs,  tin'  foilowiiifr  i-onelusioiis  scciii  jiistiliablf : 

Till'  I'ouplot  is  tlu"  (ioiniiiaiit  struct  me  of  IIcl)ir\v  poetry. 
Amos  has  at  least  127  eouplets  of  ^emiiiie  parallelism,  seven  of 
clear  synthotie,  twenty-one  (loul)tful.  and  six  irrejiular;  tliere 
are,  however,  only  ahout  twenty  jjossihle  triplets,  nearly  every 
one  of  which  is  marred  and  caused  hy  a  duhious  text.  If  the 
triplet  is  admissihle,  tln-n  its  fri-ijucncy  and  orifriiuility  m\ist 
be  hesitatin«rly  aecei)ted ;  careful  invest ijrat ion  is  necessary  for 
each  case. 

The  disposition  of  isolated  monostielis  supports  this  conclu- 
sion. Twenty-five  stiehoi  in  Amos  appear  to  he  either  survivals 
of  corrupted  eouplets,  or  interpolations  attached  to  ■rood  coup- 
lets. In  the  tield  of  jfoetry,  introductory  stiehoi  head  stanzas 
of  a  strophie  poem  and  lack  a  complementary  stichos  becatise, 
perhaps,  of  their  interparallelism  with  the  corresponding^  stiehoi 
of  the  other  stanzas.  The  same  is  true  of  refrains  which  thou'jrh 
a  sinirle  line  are  interparallelistic  with  reference  to  the  same 
stichos  in  the  other  stanzas.  These  fall  therefore  in  a  sense 
within  the  realm  of  parallelistie  poetry. 

A  •;roui>  of  sinjrlc  stiehoi,  however,  semis  to  fall  outside  of 
the  poetry  proper;  these  are  the  narrative  stiehoi  which  some- 
times are  interparallelistic  with  eorrespondiufr  stiehoi  of  other 
stanzas,  hut  usually  arc  purely  prosaic  or  near-prosaic  in  char- 
acter; sometimes  it  is  possible  to  combine  two  such  stiehoi  into 
a  rhythmical  distich,  thoujrh  this  is  unusual.  Several  traditional 
stiehoi  accompany  the  traditional  distiehs  refernd  to  above; 
these  are  not  entirely  pro.saie,  but  lie  within  the  intermediate 
territory  between  pros.-  and  poetry.  The  same  applies  to  a 
.series  of  prophetic  ejaculations  and  phi-ases  which  occur  at 
intervals,  irrejrular  and  unconstant,  throu;;hout  the  text. 

The  reiLsons  for  the  departure  from  re-rular  <-ouplet  struc- 
ture are  diflieult  to  undei-stand.  That  the  Propiiet  was  not 
content  merely  to  nmintain  strict  piH'tie  .symmetry  throujrhout 
his  work  is  evidi'nt,  if  the  present  text  is  to  be  trusted.  It  has 
been  fre(|uently  observed  in  the  discussion  that  a  break  in  the 
parallelism  is  usually  aeeMm|>anied  by  a  break  in  the  text  and 

[  2fi.-?  1 


208  Paralhlism  in  Amos 

vice  versa.  Yet  this  docs  not  account  for  the  several  cases 
where  the  Prophet  deliberately  departs  from  the  balanced 
couplet  formations.  Traditional  prophetic  formulas,  historical 
conventional  references,  ejaculations  and,  other  devices  sometimes 
account  for  a  breakdown  of  the  parallelism,  though  all  the 
cases  cannot  thus  be  explained.  The  method  and  the  psychology 
of  proplietical  utterance  is  as  yet  little  understood.  Perhaps 
if  tlie  original  text  were  in  existence,  exact  parallelism  would 
be  discovered ;  it  is  safer,  however,  to  assume  on  the  basis  of  the 
data  available  that  the  Prophet  followed  generally  the  poetical 
canons  of  parallelism,  but  that  he  permitted  himself  sometimes 
under  the  influence  of  other  poetical  or  rhetorical  laws,  but 
sometimes  apparentlj-  unbound  and  unguided  except  by  his 
inner  impulses,  to  roam  into  the  realm  of  near-prose,  of  prose, 
and  of  unparallelistic  poetry  and  parallelistic  prose.  It  is 
imperative  tliat  we  should  examine  prophetical  literature  on 
the  basis  of  the  hypothesis  tliat  behind  every  divergence  from 
regularity  of  style  a  rhetorical  law  has  operated;  thus  it  will 
be  possible  to  combine  and  classify  the  data;  in  the  end,  how- 
ever, a  residue  of  examples  will  probably  remain  which  cannot 
be  fullj'  understood;  therein  in  Hebrew,  as  in  all  other  lit- 
eratures, the  mystery  will  rest;  for  one  of  the  secrets  of  the 
strength  of  Hebrew  proi^hecy  may  be  in  tlie  fact  that  not  all  its 
phenomena  can  be  pigeonholed. 


[264; 


I'araUdism  in  Ainus 
INDEX   OF   VEUSES   IN   AMOS 


t'lmi-tor   1 

VERSE                 PAOE 
1                             81 

t'Laptor   3 

VEKSE                 I'AOE 

1          „ 131 

Clmpter  5                    Cliapfer 
(Continued)       vEKSE 
VERSE                 PAGE               1-3    ....139 

b  120,130           4   

15a  100          5a  

b  130             b  

16  96,123           r,a  

17a  123             b  

b  130           7   

18a  113,115           8a  

b  114             b  

19  107,120           9   92 

20  87         10a  

21  87, 100            b  

22  124            f 

8 

•AOE 
-14? 

2a  89 

b  113 

3-15   146ir. 

3a  88 

b  122,153 

4  95 

5a  122,155 

b  90,155 

c                  155 

2    

131 

89 

3   

4-6  .. 
7  

s 

.103,  122 
......   103 

.103,121 
103 

106 
100 
90 
125 

9a  .... 
b  .... 

10  

lla  .... 

89 

128 

.114,115 
123 

132 
112 

93 
133 

6a  88 

b  122,161 

7  95 

8a  90,166 

b  92, 166 

9a  ..; 88 

b  114 

10  95 

11a  88 

b  114,175 

b  .... 

12  108 

13  

14a  .... 

...87,123 
115,120 

132 

131 

8.S 

86 
86 
92 

24  90 

25  130 

26  119,128,130 

27  125 

Chapter   (i 
la  89,  115,  12ii 

b  126 

2a  126 

b  93 

3  115 

4a  86 

b  89 

5  96,115 

fia  84,115 

b  124 

7  112 

8a  87 

b  124 

9-10  81 

11   „...     95 

12a  87 

b  91 

13   116 

Chapter  7 
1-6  ...137-139 

4a  86 

7-9  ...139-142 

9a  84 

b  125 

10-17  81, 

142-144 

10b  109 

11    92,125 

12b  88 

13b  83 

14a  82 

b  _..   101 

17a  97 

b  101 

c   125 

b  

15a  123 

b  91.123 

Chapter  4 

12a 

Sii 

b  

13 

97 

14a   U.- 

h  8 

Chapter 
la* 

,12i; 
3,  98 

c   84.176 

12  92 

Ua  88 

2a*   .. 

b  .... 

3  

4a  .... 

b  .... 
5a  .... 

b  .... 
«>-ll 
6b  .... 
7e   .„. 
9b  .... 
lla  .... 

132 

89 

114 

89 

90 

99 

130 

.133-137 
83 

b  117,178 

1 4a  .„ 95,183 

9 
132 

b  83,184 

15 185 

Clmpter    2 
1-8   145ff. 

b  

0   

d  ..„ 

2-4  

4a 

b  

oa  

b  „ 

6a  

b  

7  

8a  

114 
125 
83 
104 

85 

121 

113 
112 

b  ...„.122, 187 
2a  ..„ 92 

b  99, 190 

3  83,  191 

12   

13 

.122,132 
111 

92 

84 

Cliaptor  5 

112 
128 
131 

b                   87 

110 

b  

130 

e   119,194 

3  92 

3    

lin 

it  

10  

120 
116 

82 

b  90 

7a   114,115 

b                 117 

1)   ... 
6a 

85 

■[OO 

1" 

118 

13a  

97 

87 

8  106 

9a'               130 

b  ... 

7 

...99.114 
90   1 1 5 

lla   

.   130 
106 

b  91 

c   . 86 

10  130 

8a  ... 
1.  . . 

115,123 

St 

....     112 

1 - 

119 

11a  86 

...83,  ll.-> 

b  130 

90 

12        ....   116 

lla 

111 

13   120 

It 

105 

14-16      93 

12a   .  . 

8-. 

13* 

130 

14a  ... 

117 

*  Ven«>!i  mnrkeil  with  an  a.iteri.ik  belong  by  clajwification  on  the  pages 
citcl,  though  not  specifically  mcntiono<l  there. 
[265] 


PARI-    II. 


PARALLELISM   IX   ISAIAM, 
Chaptkrs  1-10 


l'.\U".\l.l.i;i.|SM    IN    ISAIAH.  (MAI'S.    1-10 


CII.\PTER  .VND 

INDEX  OF  TRANSLATIONS 

VERSE 

1  "-"'l 

Isrnt-l   RolM-llioim  

212 

1.21-26  

Tlu-  Citv  of  Kiiitlifuliiess - 

214 

i.27-;u 

Tlir  Crovs  of   I.lolutr.v _ 

_ 

215 

The   Arl.itcr  of  the   Nations 

215 

2.t!1^^2l     

Tlio   LonI   Aloi..'  Exiiltod 



216 

3.1-lJ  .._ _„. 

The   Rulers   of    Israel 

218 

3  l(>-4  1 

The  VanitT  of  the  Daughters  of  Zion 

219 

4.2-(i  _ 

The  CleansiuK  Storm 

220 

5.1-7  

The  Vineyard  „ 

_ 

221 

5.*- 10  

Wo  to  the  Goilless! „ _ 

222 

-..11,   12ii,   U 

. 

222 

.i.lS,  lit _ 

„ 



222 

?.'>.:\ 

5.20nb,    23,   24a-a 

223 

-,.24e-2.'> 

Still  is  His  Hand  Outstretched 

„ 

230 

3  2i>-30 

The  Coming  of  the  Assyrian 

The  Call  of  Isaiah 

?H'> 

r..l-13  

223 

7.1-9  _ 

The  I'lot  of  Israel  and  Aram _ 

225 

7.10-1« 

Imniaiiuel    

226 

7.17-19  

The  Kgvptian  Fly  and  the  Assyrian  Bee 

.„ „. 

229 

7.20  

The   Assyrian  Swor.l 



229 

7.21.  22 

The  Un..,l  of  Milk  and  Curds _ 



229 

7.23.  24 

The  Land  of  Thistles  and  Thorns 

229 

8.1-4  

The  Ijny  and  the  Testimony 

_ 

22(; 

8.,V8  

Thi>  Assyrian  Flood 

227 

8.9-10  

Immaiuiel    „ 



226 

8.11-20  

The  Law  and  the  Testimony _. 

22t; 

8.21-22  _ 

The   Assyrian    Flood _. 

„ 

227 

8.23  

_ 

_ _ 

3.-|  1 

9.1-.; 

The  Birth  of  the  Prince                   

2:'.>'' 

9.7  20'  

Still   is   His   Hand  Out-' '■•  i 



230 

10.1    4  

Still   is   His   Hand  Out 

231 

10.,-,   1.-,  

The   Assyrian   Rod... 

234 

10  ir.  lo; 

Ili"<tnii'liiin    i"    PiM-ro   ! 

228 

Ti,.      \-^'5al:    IJ  ..! 

234 

III-' 

228 

]M  .-  ;    , : 

r. .     \  -   •     ■    l:  . 

235 

111,-'-    ;  J 

TI:,,    ,    ..,,      ,^    ,,,     1',.      ,\-..^r■■1M 

233 

10.33   34  

D.'stnii'tiim 



228 

•  The  yerses  arc  translnteil  in  the  following  order:  12,  15,  ICcd,  13,  16al), 
l>Vf,  7.  8.  9,  10,  11,  18nl).  17,  18c,  19i-,  19nh,  20. 

t  The  verses  are  translated  in  the  following  order:   16,  18bc,  17,  18a,  19. 

[  2«7  ] 


I'tiralhlisiii   ill  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 


TRANSLATION  OF  THE  KECONSTRUCTED  TEXT 

ISRAEL  REBELLIOUS 
I 
Hear,  Oh  ye  Heavens,  Chaptei 

Give  ear,  Oh  tliou  earth. 

For  it  is  the  Lord  that  speaks:  (2al 

Sous  have  I  reared. 

Daughters  have  I  brought  up — 

But  agaiust  me  they  rebel.  (2t 

An  ox  knoweth  its  owner, 
An  ass  its  master's  crib — 

Israel  doth  not  know. 

My  people  doth  not  take  heed.  (3ab< 

Ah  !  nation  of  sin  ! 
Raee  laden  witli  wrong! 

8 1  that  hrccdctli  rvil! 

Cliildrcii  hnit  on  rrime  ! 


(4abcd) 


Your  la 
And  Zi 


They  have  forsaken  the  Lord, 

They  have  contemned  the  Holy  of  Israel, 

They  are  estranged  from  Him, 

They  have  turned  back.  (iabxc) 

Why  would  ye  be  smitten  more. 
And  to  your  anguish  add? 

All  the  flesh  is  sore, 

All  tlie  heart  is  faint, 
Frdin  head  to  sole  of  foot  no  spot  is  sound- 
Bruise, 
And  stripe. 

And  bleeding  wound. 

Unclosed, 
Unbound, 
Unsoftened  with  ointment:  C'*^"* 

Your  country  lies  waste. 
Your  cities  are  burnt  with  fire, 
land  is  eaten  by  strangers  before  your  eyes;    ("abci) 

s  daughter  is  left  like  a  booth  in  a  vineyard. 
Like  a  hnt  in  a  eucumber-field. 
Like  the  tower  of  a  watchman,  (8abc2) 


(3a) 


(6b) 


iTse  9  see  p.  243. 


]'<irall,ll.sm   in   Isaiah.  Chuiili 


Hear  ye  the  word  of  tlie  Lord,  ye  Princes — of  Sodom ! 
Give  ear  to  the  hiw  of  our  liod,  ve  peoph' — of  Gomorrali ! 

(lOab) 
What  is  it  to  me  that  ye  eome  to  see  my  face? 
Wiio  asketl  this  of  vow.  that  ve  tread  my  courts? 

(lla,  12ii,  12b) 

I  delifrht  not  in  your  many  sacrifices, 

1  am  satrd  with  your  offerings  of  rams. 

With  the  fat  of  fatlinjrs. 

With  the  l.lood  of  bulls, 

With  lamt.s  ami  witii  poats;  (Hbc) 

Bring  no  more  oblations. 

Incense  to  me  is  abomination;  (13ab) 

I  cannot  sulTer  Sal)bath  and  Niw  Jloon, 
The  callinfT  of  eonvoeation  and  as.sembly ; 
Your  festivals  and  saend  seasons  my  soid  doth  loathe, 

They  are  to  me  a  burden, 

I  am  weary  of  bearing  them;  (13c-14) 

Yea,  when  ye  spread  your  jialms, 

1  will  liidi-  mine  eyes  from  you 
And  thougii  ye  nndtiply  prayer. 

I  will  not  hear—  (l.Jab) 

Your  hands  arc   full  of  blood! 

Your  lips  are  defiled  with  lies!  (l-''") 

Wash  you ! 

Clean.se  you!  (itiab') 

Cease  to  do  wrong ! 

Learn  to  do  right !  (l'''^.  '^ai 

Seek  after  justice! 

Put  away  violence!  (17bc) 

Champion  the  orphan ! 

Plead  for  the  widow!  (17dc) 

Com'-  now.  let  ns  rea.son  together,  saith  tln'  T-ord  : 
If  your  sins  are  now  like  scarlet. 

Like  snow  slnill  they  be  white. 
If  thiy  are  n-d  a-s  crimson. 

They  shall  be  like  wool : 
If  ye  nre  willing  and  will  hearken. 


>  For  verae  16e  sec  p.  248. 

[  2rt9 


I'aruUelisiii   i„  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 


The  earth's  good  sliall  ye  eat; 
If  ye  refuse  and  are  rebellious, 

Of  the  sword  shall  ye  be  eaten : 
For  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  hath  spoken. 


THE  CITY  OF  FAITHFULNESS 

How  hath  beconi(>  like  a  harlot  the  Citj'  of  Faithfulness, 
She  full  of  justice, 
In  whom  lodged  righteousness!  (21abc) 


Thy  silver  is  turned  to  dross, 
Thv  wine  with  water  is  mixed: 


(22ab) 


Thy  I'ulers  are  ruleless, 
A  l)and  of  robbers, 
A  mnrderers'  crew: 

Each  one  lovetli  bribes, 
And  seeketh  after  boons : 

The  orphan  they  right  not. 
And  widow's  cause  comes  not  before  them. 

Therefore  saith  the  Lord, 
The  Lord  of  Hosts, 
The  Mighty  of  Israel : 

Ah !  I  shall  avenge  me  of  mine  enemies. 
And  take  vengeance  of  mine  adversaries; 

And  I  shall  turn  my  Iiand  upon  thee. 
In  the  furnace  smelt  the  dross  of  thee. 
And  take  away  all  the  alloy  of  thee ; 

And  I  shall  establish  thy  judges  as  of  old. 
And  th}'  counsellors  as  of  ancient  time : 

Then  shalt  thou  once  more  be  called  Fortress  of  Ri 
Citv  of  Faithfulness. 


(23ab,  21(1) 
(23cd) 
(23ef) 

(24a) 
(24bc) 

(25) 


:hteousness, 
(26cd) 


[  270  1 


runilhtism    in   Isniah,  Cliiipti  rs    l-li 


TlIK  tiUOVKS  Ol"   IDOLATUV 

Tlirou'fli  justice  shall  Zioii  be  saved, 

Tlir()iif,'li  rijfliteuusiu'ss,  lier  people;  cJ'ab) 

Ami  sinners  shall   cease, 
Ami  transgrressors  abstain, 
And  tlesortei-s  of  the  Lord  be  no  more.  i^Naiii 

For  ashamed  shall  ye  be  of  the  oaks  ye  have  loved, 

Ye  shall  blush  for  the  gardens  yc  chose,  (29ab) 

When  they  shall  be  like  oaks  with  withering  leaves. 
Like  garilens  whose  waters  have  failed,  cfOahi 

And  the  sturdy  oak  shall  be  turmd  into  tlax. 

And  its  branches  into  dames, 

At  once  together  shall  they  burn, 

And  nonk  shall  qiench.  (3lab) 


TIIK   AKHITEK  UI'  TIIK   NATIONS 

Ami  it  shall  b,  at  tin  nul  of  time  that 
The  mount  of  the  Lor«l  shall  be  fixed  as  the  fii-st  of  the  mountains, 
xVnd  be  exalted  above  the  hills;  (2ab) 

Thereto  all  the  nations  shall  stream. 

And  numy  jieoples  shall  flow,  saijiny:  (2ab) 

"Come  let  us  climb  to  the  mount  of  the  Lord, 
To  the  house  of  Jacob's  tJod.  (3bc) 

"That  he  may  teach  us  of  his  ways, 
That  we  may  follow  in  his  paths;  (3(le) 

"For  from  Zion  instruction  goeth  forth, 
From  Jerusalem  the  word  of  the  Lord;  (3fR) 

"Between  the  nations  shall  he  judge, 
Among  nuiny  peoples  arbitrate;  (-tab) 

"And  they  shall  beat  their  swords  to  plough-shares, 
And  thi'ir  spears  to  pnining-hooks;  {iei) 

"Nation  shall  not  raise  the  sword  to  nation, 
Neither  shall  they  learn  again  to  war" —         (•*«') 

Come.  then.  O  house  of  .laeob,  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lord. 
For  thou,  O  house  of  Jacob,  hast  forsaki-n  thy  (Jod.  (•'>,  fia) 

[271) 


ParaUcUsm  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  2 
THE  LORD  ALOXE  IS  EXALTED 

I 

Crawl  'mid  tlie  cliffs  I 
Burrow  in  tlie  dust! 

From  before  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 

And  the  awe  of  his  majesty. 

As  He  rises  the  earth  to  affright.  (lOabedx) 

Let  mortals  crouch, 
Let  man  bend  low — 
Be  the  Lord  alone  exalted,  on  that  day.  (9abs) 

For  man  has  filled  the  land  with  the  luxury  of  Philistia, 
He  is  glutted  with  the  ornaments  of  strangers;  (6bc) 

And  his  land  is  filled  with  silver  and  gold, 

To  the  count  of  his  treasures  there  is  no  end;         (7ab) 

And  his  land  is  filled  with  horses. 

To  the  count  of  his  chariots  there  is  no  end;  (^od) 

And  his  land  is  filled  with  images, 

To  the  count  of  his  idols  there  is  no  end;  (8ax) 

He  worships  his  own  handiwork. 

The  work  that  his  fingers  have  wrought.  (8bc) 


Hide  in  the  caves  of  the  cliffs 
And  in  the  caverns  of  the  ground ! 

From  before  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 

And  the  awe  of  his  majesty, 

As  he  rises  the  earth  to  affright.  (lOabcde) 

And  man's  pride  shall  be  humbled, 
And  mortal  haughtiness  brought  low. 
And  the  Lord  alone  exalted,  on  that  day.  (H) 

For  the  Lord  of  Hosts  hath  a  day  for  all  exalted  and  high. 
And  all  that  is  lofty  and  proud;  (:2ab) 

And  all  Lebanon's  cedars, 

And  all  Bashan 's  oaks ;  (I3ab) 

[272] 


l\,r,ill.lh,n   in   IsauiJi,  Chniit.rs    l-lo 


uii.vrTER  :; 


Anil  all  the  iiiouiitains  lii'rli. 

Ami  all  the  lofty  hills;  (!•»»'') 

And  all  tho  towci-s  tall, 

And  all  the  toworin};  walls;  (^-'''a'j) 

And  all  tin-  Tarshish  ships. 

And  all  tin-  niaj.-sti.'  harks.  (16ax) 


Crawl  in  tin-  rifts  of  th.-  n.rks, 
And  in  till-  i-l.fts  of  the  eliffs, 

From  before  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 

And  tlie  awe  of  his  majesty. 

As  he  rises  the  earth  to  affrifrht.  (21) 

And  man's  pride  shall  lie  hundiled. 
And  mortals'  hanjrhtincss  hronjiht  low. 
And  the  Lord  alone  exalted,  on  that  pay.  (I7abe) 

And  ON'  THAT  DAY  shall  man  tlinf^f  forth  his  idols  of  silver 
And  his  idols  of  pold,  (20!ib) 

The  work  of  his  liands. 

What  he  wrought  to  adore,  (iOv) 

The  talismans  treasured. 

The  amulets  dear,  (!"•>.  18  f) 

The  searabs  of  beetles, 

The  earvinfrs  of  hats.  (20(lc«) 


For  verse  22  see  [).  272. 


[273 


Paralh'lisin  in  I.saiah.  Chapfcrs  1-10 


THE  EULEES  OF  ISEAEL 

or  lo !  tlu^  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  will  remove 
[from  Jerusalem  the  staff 
And  from  Judah,  the  stave,  (l) 

Strong  man  and  warrior, 

Prophet  and  judge. 

Counselor  and  elder. 

Notable  and  prinee. 

Necromancer  and  diviner. 

Man  wise  in  magic  and  expert  in  charms;        (2,  3) 

And  youths  will  he  set  as  their  rulers. 

By  childishness  shall  they  be  swayed;  W 

And  the  people  shall  press  man  upon  man. 

And  each  upon  his  neighbor. 
And  they  shall  rush,  the  young  upon  the  old, 

The   humble  upon   the  honored; 
Yea,  thej'  shall  seize  each  man  his  brother, 

Even  the  son  his  sire  :  (5-6a) 

"Come  be  Ihou   ruler  over  us — 
This  ruin  be  uiulrr  thy  hand."'  ("be) 

And  oil  that  daij  hi  shall  answer,  saying: 

"I  cannot  be  restorer: 

In  my  house  no  bread. 
Nor  anj-  clothes — 
Make  me  not  the  nation's  ruler."  (7) 

Yea.  Jerusalem  is  ruined. 

And  Judah   is  fallen-.  (Sab) 

For  their  tongues  have  been  perverse  toward  the  Lord, 
And  their  eyes  against  his  glory  have  rebelled; 
The  insolence  of  their  faces  is  witness  against  them. 
Their  sin  like  Sodom  have  they  told, 
Like  Gomorrah,  they  have  not  hid —  (8c-9b) 

Wo  to  their  souls !  for  to  themselves  have  they  dealt  ill. 
And  the  fruit  of  their  deeds  they  shall  eat.     "   (9c,  lObs) 

ily  pi'ople — its  leaders  ari'  childish. 
And  women  over  them  rule — 


I'anilhlism  in  ls,iiah,  Chaijlns   1-10  219 

Cll.M'TKH   3 

Jly  people!  thy  -.Miitlfs  an-  mis^Miiiliiifr, 

The  eoui-se  of  thy  piiths  tln-y  eoiil'oimd.  ('2) 

For  trial  the  Lord  doth  stiiiid, 

He  rises  to  judge  his  people: 
The   Lord  enters  into  jtidfjnient, 

With  his  people's  elders  and  prinees:  (13a-14b) 

'And  yi- — ye  iiave  stripped  the  vineyard, 
In  your  homes  is  the  plunder  of  grapes — 
■What  mean  ye  by  crushing  my  people, 
By  grindingthe  face  of  the  poor?"  (14c-15) 

Oracle  of  mij  Lord,  the  LonI  of  Hosts. 


THE  VANITY  OF  TIIK  DAUlillTERS  OF  ZIOX 

Ami  the  Lord  hath  said:  (l*5a) 

Beea\ise  that  the  daught«'i-s  of  Zitm  are  vain, 
Bending  of  neek. 
And  ogling  of  eye. 
While  they  walk  with  tripping  gait. 

And  ihey  .sway  upon  their  feet.  (iiK.iifi 

The  Lord  will  strip  the  heads  of  Zion's  daughtei-s. 
The  Lord  their  huttoeks  will  lay  bare:  (17) 

And  on  that  day  the  Lord  will  remove  the  glory  of  their 
[sunlfts  and  thrir  moonlcts 
Thi'ir  pendants  and  their  chains, 
Their  veils  and  their  turbans. 
Their  armlets  and   their  bands, 
Their  finger-rings  and   their  nose-rings. 
Their  amuh'ts  and   tln-ir  eimrms, 
Their  pni-ses  and  their  mirroi-s, 
Their  tunics  and    their   nibes. 
Their  mantles  and   their  cloaks. 
Their  hoods  and  their  veils  :  (18-23) 

And  there  shall  be  in  place  of  balsam,  dust. 

In  place  of  girdle,  a  rope. 

In  place  of  braids,  baldness. 
In  place  of  garments  of  joy.  a  girding  of  sack — 

Tears,  in  place  of  beauty.  (24) 


Parallel ish)  hi  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  3 
Thy  men  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 
And  thy  strength,  in  war —  (25) 

Yea,  lier  gates  shall  mourn, 

And  her  doorways  lament, 

And  desolate  shall  she  sit  on  the  ground.  '    (26) 


Chapter  4 

And  seven  ivonien  shall  seize  on  that  day  one  man  and  say, 

"Our  bread  will  we  eat. 
Our  own  elothes  will  we  wear — 
But  let  us  be  called  by  thy  name. 
Put  an  end  to  our  shame."  (4.1) 

TPIE  CLEANSING   STORM 

And  OH  that  day 
The  flowers  of  the  field  shall  he  splendid  in  brauty. 
And  the  trees  of  the  land  be  glorious  in  majesty 

For  the  saved  in  Israel, 

For  those  destined  to  life  in  Judah ;  (2abc,  3d) 

And  the  remnant  in  Zion 

And  thev  that  are  left  in  Jerusalem 

Shall  "Holy"  be  called, 

"God's  People"  be  named.  (3abcx) 

When  the  Lord  shall  have  washed  away  the  filth  of  Zion. 
And  from  Jerusalem  shall  have  rinsed  away  the  blood. 

With  a  storm  flood  of  rain. 

And  a  burning  wind  :  (4) 

The  Lord  will  create  over  all  of  Zion's  mountain 
And  over  all  her  sacred  site, 

A  cloud  of  smoke  bj'  day. 

And  the  light  of  a  flaming  fire  by  night ;  (5a-d) 

Yea,  his  glory  shall  cover  all  of  her, 
And  a  canopy  o'er  her  shall  there  be, 

As  a  shadow  from  the  heat, 

And  as  a  covert  from  the  storm.  (5e-6) 


[276 


I'tirnlli  Usui    in   Isuiiili,  Chiipti  rs    1-10  221 

CiiArTKR  ;■; 
TiiK  vi.\i:vAi;i> 

Lit   inc  sint;  now  of  my  bflovctl, 

Of  my  vineyard,  a  song  of  love :  (la.  ^> 

A  viiuvanl  lia.l  1  us  h.^lowd, 

jMTtilr,    OM    II    llill.  (led) 

And   1  du-r  il. 

Anil  1  I'leaivd  it. 

In  it  plantcil  i-lioici'st  vines; 

In  its  midst  1  Imilt  a  tower. 

And  in  it  hewed  a  vat :  (2a-c) 

Tlii'ii   I   hoped  it  would  yii'id  me  [grapes, 

r.iif  it  yielded— galls.  (2fg) 

And  now,  Jer\i.salem"s  dwellers, 

And  Judah's  men, 
Judge,  I  pray,  between  me 

And  between  my  vineyard:  (3) 

Wiiat  for  my  vineyard  eould  I  have  done 

That   I   left  \indone? 
Why  did  I  hope  it  would  yield  me  grapes 

And  it  yielded  galls?"  (4) 

Well,  then,  let  mc  answer  to  you — 

What  to  my  vineyard  Til  do:  ('nb) 

Destroy  its  hedge 

That  it  be  rninrd. 
Break  its  wall 

That  it  be  erushed  ;  (Sd) 

And  I  shall  make  it  a  thieket^ 

It  shall  be  unpruned. 
And  thistles  and  thorns  shall  spring  up — 

It  shall  be  nnhoed: 
And  the  elonds  shall   I  eharge. 

Lest  they  rain  there  any  rain.  (6^ 

But  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord 

Is  Israel's  house 
And  the  people  of  Judali 

Are  his  eherished  vine,  (7ab) 

And  he  imped  for  equity. 

But  beiiold.  inirpiity ! 
And  for  righteousness. 

But  behold,  frightfulnesvs!  (7c<l) 

[277  1 


rarallclisiii   in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 


Chapter  5 
WO  TO  THE  GODLESS 

I 
Wo !  those  who  add  house  iinto  house, 
Who  field  unto  field  do  join, 

That  there  be  no  plaee  for  neighbors, 

And  they  dwell  alone  in  the  land :  (8t 

Verily,  their  many  liouses  shall  lie  ruined. 
Without  dwellers,  the  goodly  and  great ; 

For  an  acre  of  vineyard  shall  yield  but  one  gallon, 
And  a  peck  of  grain,  but  a  quart.  (9,  10) 

II 

Wo !  those  who  rise  early,  pursuing  strong  drink,'' 
Who  tarry  in  twilight,  spurred  on  bj-  wine; 

Whose  revels  are  noisy  with  viol  and  harp. 

Who  feast  to  the  din  of  the  timbrel  and  flute :    (li>  i^a?) 

Therefore,  doth  Hell  with  greediness  gape. 
And  unending  wide  her  mouth  doth  ope, 

And  down  shall  go  their  splendor  and  noise. 

And  tliere  tlieir  din  be  swallowed  up.  (14s) 

III 

Wo !  those  wlio  drag  sin  with  ropes  of  wrong, 
And  guilt,  with  cords  of  evil; 

Who  say:  "Let  hasten,  let  hurry,  His  work,  let  us  see! 
Bring  on,  Bi'ing  in,  the  plan  of  Israel's  Holy,  let  us 
know!"  "    (18,  19) 

Therefore 


"  \  crsc  22  IS  a  variant: 

Wo  to  the  valiant — in  l)out.s  of  bibbing, 
To  tlie  valorous — in  mixing  drink. 

•For  12bc,  13,  see  after  21. 

sFor  ^'>,  Ki,  17,  see  the  notes. 


[278] 


I'linilhlism   ill   Isiiiiili.  Clniiitirs   J-10 


Wo!  those  ill  their  own  sijrht  wise, 

111  their  own  eyes,  understanding,  (21) 

Wliile  the  woriv  of  the  Lord  they  do  not  regard, 

And  the  deeds  of  his  iiand  they  do  not  sec;  (I2ed) 

'riureriire.  my  peojde  shall  perish- in  want  of  knowledge. 
In  lack  of  imderstandiii'r  shall  they  he  undone:     (l^ax) 

Her  Hollies  shall  famish  with  huiiger. 

Her  throngs  shall  he  parehed  with  thirst.  (I3bc) 


Wo!  those  who  eall  had  go.ul  and  good  eall  had. 

Who  turn  light   into  darkness  and  darkness  into  light. 

Who  for  a  hrihe  justify  sinners. 

And  of  justiee  defraud  the  just :  <-Oal«.  23) 

Therefore,  as  when  stuhhle  feeds  tongues  of  fire. 
As  when  chaff  falls  befori'  flames. 

Their  roots  shall  rust  into  mold, 

Th.-ir  flo\Yers  unfold  as  dust.  (24a-di>) 


TIIK  (ALL  OK  ISAl.VH 

In  the  year  that  king  I'zziah  died.  T  saw  the  Lord  sitting 
upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  and  his  train  filled  the  temple. 
Ahove  if  stood  the  seraphim:  i-aeh  one  had  six  wings;  with  twain 
he  covered  his  fa<'e,  and  with  twain  he  covered  his  feet,  and  with 
twain  he  did  fly.      And  oiu'  cried  unto  anotlur,  and  said  : 

"Hold.  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts: 
The  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory."  (1-4) 

And  the  jiast.s  of  the  door  moved  at  the  voice  of  him  that  eried, 
and  the  house  was  filled  with  smoke.    Then  said  I  : 

"Woe  is  me.  for  that  I  am  undone: 

For  that  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lijis 
And  amid  n  people  of  unclean  lips  do  T  dwell; 
For  mine  eves  have  .seen  the  King,  the  Ijord  of  Hosf.s." 

"  (■«.  r,) 

l"..r  vrnM-s  24i'-2.'),  !><•<•  p.  2.10;    for  vrriM's  2r>-20,  wo  p.  2.12. 
(  279  ] 


Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 


Then  flew  one  of  the  seraphim  unto  me,  having  a  live  coal  in  his 
hand,  which  he  had  taken  with  the  tongs  from  off  the  altar. 
And  he  laid  it  upon  my  mouth,  and  said, 

"Lo,  this  hath  tducbcd  thy  lips, 
And  tliinc   iiii(iuity   is  taken  away. 
And  thy  sin  is  ]nn'i;'ed."'  i^h"!) 

Then  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  saying: 

"Whom  shall  1  send. 
And  who  will  go  for  us?" 

Then  said  I :  " Here  am  I :  send  me. " '  And  he  said  :  "Go  and  tell 
this  people : 

'Hear  ye.  hut  understand  not, 
See  ye,  but  perceive  not. 

Fatten  this  people's  heart, 
Deafen  its  ears. 
Blind  its  eyes, 

Lest  it  see  with  its  eyes. 
And  hear  with  its  ears. 
And  understand  with  its  heart. 

And  turn. 

And  be  healed."  "  (8-10) 

Then  said  I.  "How  long,  my  Lord?"  and  he  answered: 

"Till  cities  be  left  without  dwellers. 
And  houses  without  man ; 

Till  the  Lord  make  wide  the  waste  in  the  land, 
ilake  broad  the  desolation  in  the  midst  of  the  earth ; 

And  there  be  therein  but  a  tithe, 
And  there  be  still  but  a  remnant. 

Like  an  oak  left  in  a  clearing. 

Like  a  terebinth  standing  in  seed-land."        (11-13) 


[280 


I'anilhlisnt    ill    IsiiKih.  Cluipt,  rx    I-IO 


TIIK   TLOT  OF  ISRAEL  AND  ARAM 

And  it  caiiu-  to  pius-s  in  tlic  iluys  of  Aliaz,  the  son  of  .lotliani, 
tlie  son  of  I'zziah,  kin«j:  of  .hulali,  tliat  Rezin  the  kinj;  of  Syria, 
and  Tckali  tin-  son  of  Hiinaliah.  kinjr  of  Israel,  went  up  to  Jeru- 
salem to  war  against  it.  Init  eoukl  not  prevail  against  it.  And  it 
was  told  the  house  of  David,  sayinfj:  "Syria  is  eonfederate  witli 
Ephraini";  and  his  heart  was  moved,  and  the  heart  of  his 
people,  as  the  trees  of  tlie  wood  are  moved  with  the  wind.  Then 
•<aid  tiie  Lord  unto  Lsaiah,  "Go  forth  now  to  meet  Ahaz,  thou 
anil  Shear-jashub  tliy  .son,  at  the  end  of  the  eonduit  of  the  ui)per 
pool,  in  the  hifrhwav  of  the  fuller's  field;  and  say  unto  him: 

(1-3) 

"Be  at  ease. 
And  he  at  rest ; 

Fear  not. 

X(tr  be  thy  heart  wiak, 

Heeauso  of  the.se  stumps  of  fire-brands. 
That  smoke  bv  the  wrath  of  Epiiraim  and  Anim: 

(■Ib-f) 
Because  Aram  has  plotted  apainst  thee. 
And  Ephraim  evil  has  devised,  and  said:  (5) 

'Let  us  po  up  in  .Indah, 
And  let  us  iier  terrify : 
Let  iis  rend  her  to  ourselves. 
And  let  us  jilaee  a  kinp;  in  her  midst":  (•») 

77II/.S-  .s(ii7/i  my  Lord,  tin   Lord: 
'  It  shall  not  come. 
It  shall  not  be;  (7) 

For  the  head  of  Aram  is  namaseus. 
And  the  litad  of  Dama.seus  is  Rezin; 
And  tin-  ln'ad  of  Ephraim  is  Samaria, 
And  the  head  of  Sanujria   is  Kanudiah's  son: 

(8nbto-9ab) 

If  your  faith  be  not  sure, 

Then  shall  ye  not  endure."  "  (9<-d) 

l'..r  8<-  soo  p.  34.1. 


I  ".isi  I 


226  Parallel  ism   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 


IMMANUEL 

Moreover,  the  Lord  spoke  again  unto  Ahaz,  saying:  "Ask 
thee  a  sign  of  the  Lord  thy  God;  ask  it  either  in  the  depth,  or 
in  the  height  above."  But  Ahaz  said:'" I  will  not  ask,  neither 
will  I  tempt  the  Lord."  And  he  said:  "Hear  ye  now,  0  house 
of  David :  Is  it  a  small  thing  for  you  to  weary  men,  but  will  ye 
wear}-  my  God  also?  Therefore  my  Master  himself  shall  give 
you  a  sign :  Behold,  the  young  woman  is  with  child  and  will  bear 
a  son,  and  will  call  his  name  '  God-with-us. '  For  before  the 
child  shall  know  to  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the  good,  the  laud 
shall  be  deserted  whose  two  kings  thou  abhorrest." 

(7.10-14,11    Kji;;) 


God  is  with  rs ! 

Hear  0  ye  peoples  altogether. 
Hearken  all  ye  lands  afar ! 

Gird  yourselves — for  retreat ! 
Arm  yourselves — for  defeat! 

Plan  ye  a  plan — it  will  be  thwarted ! 
Plot  ye  a  plot— it  shall  be  unfulfilled  !— 

For  God  is  with  rs!  (8.9-10) 


THE  LAW  AND  THE  TESTIMONY 

And  the  Lord  said  to  me.  Take  thee  a  great  roll,  and  write 
in  it  with  a  man's  pen:  "To  Speedy-Spoil-Hasten-Booty. "  And 
I  took  unto  me  faithful  witnesses  to  testify,  L^riali  the  priest, 
and  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jeberechiah.  And  I  went  into  the 
prophetess;  and  she  conceived  and  bare  a  son.  Then  the  Lord 
said  to  me:  Call  his  name  "Speedy-Spoil-Hasten-Booty":  for 
before  the  child  shall  be  able  to  say  "father"  and  "mother,"  the 
spoil  of  Samaria  shall  be  taken  awav  before  the  king  of  Assyria. 

(8.1^13) 

For  the  Lord  spake  thus  to  me,  with  a  strong  hand  deterring 
me  from  walking  in  the  way  of  this  people,  saying: 

Say  ye  not  "Holy"  of  all  that  this  people  say  "Holy," 
Fear  not  their  fear. 
And  dread  not  their  dread : 

The  Lord  of  Hosts,  of  Him  say  ye  "Holy." 
He  be  your  fear. 
And  he  be  your  dread — 

11.  i^Por  7.1.5  see  p.  S44;   for  7.17  see  p.  22S). 
i-For  8. .5-8  see  p.  227;  for  8.9-10  sec  above. 
[282] 


Partilltlisiii   ill  Isiiidh,  Chaplirs   l-ln 


Hut  they  sliall  lie  as  a  stiinil>liiifr-l)l(iek. 
Ami  as  a  stmiil)liii};-st()iic, 
Ami  as  a  rook  of  offence 

To  till'   House  of  Israel, 
Ami  as  a  sjin. 
And  as  a  snare. 

To  the  dwellers   in  .lerusalem. 

Ami  tliroufrli  them  niaiiv  shall  stuniMe, 
Ami  shall  fall. 
Ami  shall  he  lirtiken, 
Ami  shall  lie  snared. 
And  shall  be  eaufjht.  (11-15) 

Hind  up  the  testimony  for  my  follo\vei"s, 

Seal  uj)  the  law  among  my  diseiples;  (l") 

\]id  wlu'ii  men  say  to  you  :  "(Jo  to  the  neeromaticcrs  and  wizards. 
Those  that  mutter  and  ehirp — 
To  the  dead  in  behalf  of  the  living — " 

"Should  not  a  people  <jo  to  its  god — 
I'd   the   testimonv   and   the   law"— is   not    this   what   ye   should 
answer?  (19-20) 

Heboid  I  and  the  ehildren  whom  the  Lord  hath  given  me  are 
for  signs  and  for  womlcrs  in  Israel  from  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
which  dwelleth  in  Mount  Zion  :  ami  I  will  wait  upon  the  Lord, 
that  hidcth  his  fac  from  the  hous.-  of  .lacob.  and  I  will  look  for 
him.  (18,17) 


THE  ASSYHIAN   I'l.OUI) 
And  the  Lord  spoke  still  again  to  me  and  said :  (•'') 

r.icause  that  this  people  rejected  the  watei-s  of  Shiloh, 

That  flow  softly  and  faint.  (River, 

Therefore  my   Lord  shall   bring  upon  them   the  waters  of  The 

That  are  mighty  and  great ;  (•',  '") 

.Vnd   it  sluill  overflow 'all   its  bed. 
And  overHood  all  its  banks. 

And  it  shall  rush  upon  .ludah  with  Hushing  sweep, 
And  throat-hijrii  reach. 
And  spread  to  his  farthest  ends. 
And  fill  the  breadth  of  his  land.  (71k-.  8) 


228  Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 


And  111'  shall   wander  on, 

By  hun-vr  Inst-ad. 

Wearied  with  aiiiiiiisli, 

Into  darkness  thrust ;  (21ab,  22cd) 

And  he  shall  turn  on  high,  where  there  is  no  dawn, 
And  he  shall  look  to  the  earth,  and  lo  !  gloom  and  distress; 

(21f,  20c,  22ab) 

And  then,  in  pain,  shall  he  wax  wroth. 
And  shall  eurse  his  king  and.  vea — his  God ! 

(2:011)13" 


DESTRUCTION  IS  DECREED 

Therefore  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  will  send  into  his  fatness 

[leanness, 
And  in  place  of  his  glory,  shame,  (l*^) 

Bodj^  and  soul,  he  shaH  pine. 
And  as  a  sick  man,  sink  awa.y.  (I8bc) 

Lo !  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  will  lop  the  boughs  with  a  hook. 
And  the  high  of  stature  shall  be  felled, 
And  the  lofty  be  brought  low ; 

And  he  will  hack  the  thickets  of  the  forest  with  an  axe, 
And  the  mighty  Lebanon  shall  fall, 
And  the  sturdy  Bashan  be  cut  down;        (33,34abx) 

And  the  Light  of  Israel  shall  become  a  fire. 

And  his  Holy  One  a  flame,  d'-i'') 

And  it  shall  consume  the  trees  of  his  forests  and  fields. 
And  devour  his  thistles  and  thorns  in  a  single  da^-,    (l^*";  ^^a) 

And  the  I'cst  shall  be  but  few. 

And  be  counted  by  a  child ;  (ton) 

For  though  thy  people,  0  Israel,  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea. 
But  a  remnant  thereof  shall  remain : 

Destruction  is  decreed, 

A  scouring  scourge.  (22) 

Yea.  destruction   and   what  has  been  decreed,  mjj  Lord,  the, 
Lord  of  Hosts,  icill  work  in  the  midst  of  (dl  the  earth.  (23) 


i3r.  For  8.23  see  p.  354.     "  For  10.21,  22,  see  p.  23.-) 

[284] 


rnriilhlisni    In    Isaiah.   (•/i.(/>f.  rv    /-/( 


CllArTEK    7 

THK   Er.Yl'TlAN    FLY    AND   TUK   ASSYRIAN   BKE 

Till-  Lord  -shall  briii;?  upon  tlicc  luul  upon  tiiy  people,  and 
upon  thy  fatiier's  house  {lays  that  have  not  eonie  since  the  day 
tiiat  Ki>hraini  separated  from  .Indaii.  (7-17) 

And  it  shall  came  to  pass  on  tluit  day: 
The  Lord  will  iiiss  to  the  Hy  at  the  end  of  the  rivers  of  Egypt, 
And  to  the  bee  in  Assyria's  land. 

And  they  siiall  all  eitnie  and  light  in  the  canons  of  tlie  steeps 
And  the  crannies  of  the  ciifTs, 

In  each  thorny-copse, 

And  in  each  grassy  cove.  (18,19) 


TIIK  ASSVKIAN  SWOIil) 

0)1  that  dun 
My  Lord  will  shave  with  a  razor  of  hire 
And  with  a  blade  that  is  strange 

The  hair  of  the  head  and  the  feet  — 
Yea,  the  beard  will  it  sweep  o(T. 


TIIK  LAND  OI'  TIIISTLKS  AND  THORNS 

And  it  shall  come  to  pass  on  that  da;/: 
Each  place  where  grow  a  thousand  vines  for  ten  thousand  (liiii>  > 

Shall  be  thick  with  thistles  and  thorns; 
All  the  fields  and  the  hills  that  are  hoed  with  the  hoe. 

Shall  be  thick  with  thistles  and  thorns; 

Thi-re  the  ox  will  tramp  and  the  Hocks  will  tread. 
There  will  men  go  with  arrow  and  bow. 

For  all  shall  be  thistles  and  thorns.  {2.'J-24) 


Verse  21 : 

The  Land  »r  Mn.K  and  C'iiu>s 
And  it  ahall  e»n\r  tn  />»,«.«  on   that  dau : 
Eaoh  mnn  slinll  nniiriiili  n  cnlf  of  the  herds. 
And  n  shofp  of  the  florks. 
And  from  the  rich  yield  of  milk. 
All  left  in  the  Innd  shall  eat  curds. 
Hebrew:    'lUpIt  grplun  b''ilii>h  ktnt-jdi. 


[2*-. 


230  PdniUclism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapters  o,  E) 
STILL  IS  HIS  HAND  OUTSTRETCHED 

I 


For  they  rejeotrd  tin-  law  of  tlie  Lord  of  Hosts, 

Aud  the  word  of  tlie  Iloly  of  Israel  spurued,  (5.24ef) 

Therefore,  the  Lord's  wrath  against  his  people  was  hot, 
He  stretched  forth  his  hand  against  them  aud  smote, 

And  the  mountains  flowed  with  the  blood  of  the  slain. 
And  their  corpses  lilje  rubbish  lay  in  the  streets — 

With  all  this  his  wrath  turned  not. 

Still  was  his  hand  oi'tstrktched.  (25) 


But  the  jieoplc  turned  not  to  their  smiter, 

Tlie  Luril  of  Hosts  they  did  not  seek ;  (9-12) 

Their  leaders  were  ever  misleading 

And  they  that  the.y  guided,  misled,  (l^) 

For  all  of  them  were  wicked,  profane, 

Each  mouth  did  godlesslj-  speak —  (leed) 

Therefore,  the  Lord  from  Israel  cut  head  and  tail. 

Branch  and  rush  in  a  single  day,  (13) 

In  their  youths  he  took  no  delight. 

To  their  orphans  he  showed  no  love. 

And  their  widows  he  did  not  spare —  (ifiab) 

With  all  this  his  wrath  turned  not. 

Still  was  his  hand  outstretched.  (I6ef) 

III 

A  crash  sent  the  Lord  throughout  Jacob, 

And  ruin  upon  Israel;  (7) 

But  the  people,  all  of  them,  mocked. 

And  said  in  pride,  with  insolent  hearts:  (8) 

"Bricks  have  fallen,  we  will  build  with  stone, 
Sj'camores  are  cut  down — cedars  we'll  replace":  (9) 

So  the  Lord  exalted  against  them  their  foes. 

Their  enemies  did  he  spur  on:  (10) 

[286] 


]'(iralhll.s,ii   ill   Isiiiiih.  CluiptTs   1-10  2:51 

CllAI'TEKS   !),    10 

Aram  in  I'miit. 
IMiilistia  rroiii  ln-liiiul, 
And  Isiwl  liy  moutlifuls  tluy  atf—  (llal)c) 

With  am.  this  his  wuath  TiKNicn  not, 

STII.I.  was   his    hand  (HTSTUKTCHKl).  (IMe) 

IV 
By  the  nifje  of  the  Lord  was  tlir  world   intlaniod. 
And  tlif  pcopK-  wen-  as  tin-  food  of  wrath,  ( l«i>l)i 

For  wiokodncss  burnt  as  a  fire. 

That  C'onsinnos  the  thistles  and  thorns,  (17ab) 

Whih'  the  forest  tliiekets  blaze. 

And  the  valleys  roll  up  in  smoke;  (17cd) 

(Tiiereforc)  no  man  i)itied  his  brother, 

Each  ate  the  Hesh  of  his  friend,  (I8e,  I9c) 

Cut  on  the  rif;lit,  and  was  hungry, 

DevoiH-ed  on  the  left,  nor  was  full :  (19ab) 

Menasseh,  Ephraim, 
Ephrnini,  Menasseh, 
Together  they  two  against  Judah —  (20abc) 

With  am,  this  hi.s  wrath  tirned  not, 

Stii.i.  was  his  hand  oitstretched.  (20de) 


Wo  to  d<ci-eers  of  wieki'd  decrees 
And  to  seribes  who  in  evil  inscribe. 

To  wrest  from  justice  the  poor. 

To  rol)  of  judgment  my  people's  oppressed. 

To  make  of  widows  a  prey. 
While  tiie  orphan  they  despoil — 

And  what  will  ye  d<i  on  the  day  of  charge, 
When  disaster  comes  from  afar? 

Where  will  ye  Hee  for  aid. 

To  wiiom  entrust  the  weight  of  your  wialth. 

Lest  amid  the  captives  ye  bow. 
Ami  amid  the  slain  ye  fall? 

With  am.  this  his  wrt.vTH  tir.ss  not. 
Stii.i,  is  his  hand  oitstretched. 


II   !«•.>  p.  234;   for  1 0.1 2- 1. ">  soo  p.  23.'>. 
(287) 


Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 


THE  COMING  OF  THE,  ASSYRIAN 

I 

And  lie  will  raise  a  flag  to  a  far-off  folk. 
And  hiss  them  here  from  the  end  of  the  earth, 

Aud  see !  with  haste, 
With  speed  they  come : 

None  of  them  tires, 
None  of  them  trips, 

Nor  does  he  slumber, 
Nor  does  he  sleep ; 

Nor  does  he  loose  the  cloth  of  his  loins. 
Nor  does  he  snap  the  lace  of  his  shoe; 

And  his  arrows  are  sharp. 
All  his  bows  are  bent. 

The  hoofs  of  his  horses  seem  like  flint, 
His  chariot-wheels  like  the  whirling  wind. 

He  roars  like  a  lion, 

He  growls  like  its  whelp. 

He  seizes,  he  carries  away  his  prey — 
And  none  can  save.  (5 


5.30  is  a  variant  of  8.21: 

And  on  that  day  will  he  growl  o'er  him  like  the  growling 
Then  will  lie  look  to  the  earth, 

But  lo!  distress, 
And  for  the  light- 
In  the  clouds  is  night. 


[288] 


I'arallilhni  in  Jsiiiah.  Vhaptos  1-lU  2:33 

(.■hapter  10 


(From  the  Nurtli)  he  comes, 
lie  has  jiseemled  to  Ai : 

He  has  crossed  by  Mijrron, 

111  Miehma-s  his  ba{:gag;e  he  stores: 

He  lias  pas-seil  over  The  Pass, 
At  Geba  Lodjje  he  lias  lodged. 

Ha-rama  is  iiorrified, 
Uibeath  yaiil  has  Hed : 

Madmena  is  moved. 

The  people  of  (iebim  refuge  seek : 

Shrill  thy  eall,  0  Bath  (.iallim! 
Kaise  thy  voice,  O  Betii-Azmaveth ! 

Listen,  Layisha! 
Answer,  Aiiatlioth ! — 

Still  today  on  Nob  he  will  stand 
And  his  hand  will  wave — 

O  Mount  of  Zion's  daughter, 

0JERISALE.M-SI1ILL1  (10.28-32.0) 


For  10.33,  3i  »«•<•  p.  284. 


[289] 


234  ParaUilisin  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  10 
THE  ASSYRIAN  EOD 
I 

AVo  Assyria,  rod  of  my  wrath 

And  staff  in  the  hand  of  mine  ire,  (5) 

Against  au  impious  people  did  I  send  him. 
Against  the  folk  of  my  anger,  give  him  command : 

To  bear  away  prey, 

To  seize  upon  spoil ;  (tJa-d-c) 

But  lie  not  thus  was  minded, 
His  heart  iK)t  thus  devised — 

Destruction  was  in  liis  lieart. 

The  annihilation  of  nations  not  a  few:  '  (7) 

For  he  said: 
"Are  not  my  captives  together  all  kings? 
Is  not  like  Carcemish  Calno? 

"Is  not  like  Arpad  Hamath  ? 
Is  not  like  Damascus  Samaria?  (8-9) 

"As  my  hand  to  these  kings  and  their  idols  hath  reached. 

Shall  it  from  Jerusalem  and  her  icons  fall  short?  (lOax) 

"Nay,  as  even  to  Samaria  and  her  images  have  I  done, 

So  also  to  Jerusalem  and  her  gods  shall  I  do."  (H) 


But  wluMi  my  Lord  sliall  have  ended  his  work  on  Zion's  mount. 
And  his  task  on  Ji>rusalem, 

He  will  punish  the  haughty  pride  of  the  heart  of  Assyria's  king, 
And  the  boastful  arrogance  of  his  eyes;  (12) 

Bfeausf  hr  said: 
"By  the  .strength  of  mine  own  hand  have  I  acted, 
And  by  mine  own  wisdom  liave  I  wrought;  (I3ai)) 

"The  boundaries  of  the  pei]|ilis  have  I  moved. 
And  I  have  despoiled  their  stores;  (13cd) 

"I  have  brought  down  the  glory  of  their  habitants. 
To  be  trampled  like  the  mire  of  the  streets,  (13^,  «c) 


I'drallilixni   in   Isaiah,  Chaptns   1-10 


ClIArTKIl   10 


"My  liaiid  liatli  rciU'lud  for  tin'  iiiit ions'  sti-ciif.'lli  as  for  a  iicst- 
As  nuMi  {ratliiM-  etrsrs  have  1  iiatlH'rftl  the  i)o\vi'r  of  tlu-  earth — 

■'And  iioiu'  Happid  liis  wiiifr 

Or  jiartod  his  heak  to  pci']i" —  (l- 

Shall  the  axo  boast  ajrainst  him  that  with  it  licws? 
Shall  thi'  saw  vaunt  ajrainst  hini  that  it  doth  wield? — 

As  thoufrh  a  staff  should  wield  him  that  raised  it  I 

As  thou-rh  tlie  rod  should  lift  iiim— that  is  not  wood!  (l''- 


Ul 

Thnforr  thus  sailh  mi)  Lord,  th,   Lord  of  Hosts: 
O  my  people,  do  not  fear, 
O  dwelhrs  ill  Zion,  he  not  dismayed 

Of  Assyria  who  smites  thee  with  a  rod. 

And  who  raises  apainst  thee  his  staff; 

For  yet  a  little  and  my  wrath  shall  pass. 

And  my  anjrer  ajrainst  tin'e  shall  all  he  spent : 

Then  a</ainst  him  shall  the  Loi-d  of  Hosts  rouse  his  staff, 

As  at  the  smitin-r  of  Midian, 

At  Oreh's  Roek, 
And  airaiiist  liim  shall  he  raise  his  rod, 

In  the  wav  of  Epvpt, 

At  the  Sea :  "  (2-1-26) 

And  It  shall  cmnr  to  pans  on  that  dan: 

1 1  is  hnrden  shall  he  removed  from  otT  thy  shoidder. 

And  his  yoke  from  off  thy  neek.  (27==) 

And  it  shall  comr  to  pnxs  on  that  da;/: 
No  lon^rer  shall  Israel's  Remnant 
And  the  House  of  Jaeoh's  Saved 
Lean  upon  their  smiter; 

Hut  thev  shall  lean  upon  their  IIolv  One,  the  Lord. 

(20.  21) 


=  '  For  v.TJM's  ir>-20  !<w  p.  iJS. 
--  For  vorsos  2»-;i2  sw  p.  23.1. 


[291 


236  ParnUelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  9 
THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  PRINCE 

The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great  light, 
Upon  those  who  dwelt  in  a  land  of  gloom  a  radiance  has  shown : 

Thou  hast  multiplied  their  gladness, 
And  magnified  their  joy — 

They  rejoice  before  thee  as  with  joy  of  the  harvest, 

As  men  are  glad  when  they  share  the  spoil.  (l.  2) 

For  the  yoke  of  their  necks 

And  tlieir  shoulders'  load. 

The  smiter's  staff 

And  the  oppressor's  rod 

Hast  thou  broken  as  on  Midiau's  day, 

Hast  thou  shattered  as  on  Egypt's  road.     (3abxex) 

Yea,  every  boot  that  in  ruthlessness  tramped. 
And  every  garment  that  in  blood  was  rolled. 

Hath  been  given  for  burning. 

For  the  food  of  flames.  W 

For  a  boy  hath  been  bnrn  to  us, 
A  son  hath  been  given  to  us," 

And  his  name  is  Wonder-Counsellor, 
ilighty-Hero, 
Father  of  Knowledge, 
Prince  of  Peace,  (5) 

For  the  increase  of  right. 
And  peace  without  end, 

On  David's  throne. 
And  over  liis  domain. 

To  establish  it, 
And  to  sustain, 

In  justice. 
And  in  right. 

From  now 
And  for  ay — 

The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  will  aeeompli.'ih  this.  (6) 

[292] 


J'antlhlisni   in   Isaiah,  Chaptn-s   1-U^ 


XOTKS   OX   Till-:    I'AKAM.KI.ISM    oF    ISAIAil. 
ClIAl'S.  1    HI 

t'llAl'TlOU    1 

2.  (a)  Hoar,  O  licavons;  (b)  ami  s'wc  car,  O  earth;  (c)  for  the 
Lunl  hath  iipokeii. 

Tills  iiitrodiK'tory  stroplu"  i-oiisists  of  tliri'i-  iiarallcl  lines,  in 
which,  however,  the  parallelisni  between  the  first  and  seeoiul 
lines  is  closer  than  that  between  the  thirtl  and  the  other  two; 
for  the  parallelism  between  the  first  two  lines  is  produced  by 
synonyms,  "hear"  and  "jrive  ear,"  and  complements,  "heaven" 
and  "earth";  whereas  the  third  lint"  contains  no  synonym  for 
any  of  these  terms,  but  only  complements,  namely,  "the  Lord," 
complementary  to  "heaven"  and  "earth,"  and  "hath  spoken," 
complementary  to  "hear"  and  "jrive  ear."  This  is  a  fairly 
common  type  of  strophe  in  Isaiah  (cf.  2.10,  11)  ;  sometimes  tlie 
variation  in  the  third  line  is  further  emphasized  by  a  difference 
in  lenfTth,  in  the  number  of  rhythmic  beats.  Such  a  difference 
in  tlie  defiree  of  closeness  of  parallelism  produces  a  slifrht  sense 
of  asymmetry,  which  is  fre(|nently  satisfied  by  a  followin;; 
strophe  t>f  similar  formation,  the  two  strophes  together  formintr 
a  symmetrical  wliole   (strophic  parallelism). 

The  em])hatic  position  of  the  word  "Lord"  in  the  Hebrew 
of  this  strophe  should  be  noted:  "when  it  is  the  Lord  who 
speaks,  even  the  heavens  listen";  the  theme  of  obedience  is  thus 
subtly  implied. 

2.  (<l)  I  have  iioiiri.iheil  ami  hroiiKht  up  chililmi  (or  "sons"), 
(e)  anil  they  have  rebelleil  against  me. 
Paralleli.sm  is  produced  by  the  opposites  "nourish"  ("cher- 
ish") and  "rebel"  ("forsake"),  and  i)y  the  relatives  "children" 
and  "(}od  [me]."  The  first  of  these  two  parallel  lines,  however, 
contains  two  exact  synonyms,  "nourished"  and  "brought  tip," 
which  su>rpests  that  it  may  oripinnlly  have  formed  two  lines.  A 
comparison  with  Is.  23.4,  where  the  same  pair  of  .synonyfns. 
"nourish"  and  "brinjr  "p."  oeeurs.   followed   by  a   masculine 

[293] 


FmrsiJIllfliism  »«  IsmHioh.  CkaptTTf  1-M 


hjK..  .^^rmm~3asdi'm&  3!Hak«  it:  eercasia  tisat  Aj',   

ailtsr-  an;  VsiS  in.  fci>  ti!.i->i!i£fti!:s.      M«)ire«>T¥-r,  tfcuSPe  ' 
r-SEio^Trfii  ■caae-  ik  -Isie  al'^r^j;.  anspiici'Bus  eases  «f  the  >  - 

s3^-.f Sie  -srr,ii|,i  lEiiis-  lie  iA^iatiisal  im  form  -iritii  the  pc-.      

snrpjii-    .ni-mratjiiiriiimij-  TTsr.n  Hmts  el'Dselly  sriaoniTTiiiMMis.  idlis'iirc^i  iy 

a  'TTfTiiT  5iL  if-:umwii.a,T:f,T-hrf^W  jmipire  (SisEanit  paraHelisni ' .  to  iriiiiefc. 

"—  ."-in.  amtiiiiie^if  tiniiraiiEiiit  pansIldlisiiBi  as  ii:   ...  ""- 

rus  liKrea.  VO'  Gif«i  tiuionDigfe  Israel  refmses  " 

-   -  "    -      -   ""soans""  m  t&e  He-bireTr  ,€   Zsiani 

:   Tine  iSBupliiasorf  i«lea   ©f  IsemI 

-.  foirtes  ttn?  mimd  i<a  seleeti-  or  at. 

w.-""  "-TipiErisIL""  ratiier  liLan  ""aHiasnaify."  "ifxalt":  and  sami- 
jiLTly  *".  raxipiii&fisr  in.  psmiC  'hi-  maemiiw  "disofcey,""  "rebeL"' 

rmi*far  riiim  ri-r  irn'rir^  feaiseraJ:  ""rrajiisST<ess";  tho-npfci   ©f  eomatse, 

Vh~  'rsiii-r  2!2*aL>  imij  sdll  n>r  pirest-inr  s?  ffindertoanes. 

i-     3.     TTa^f   nr  k^-xiwTrci  iis  •F»-aer.  il.'t  aa»i  tSie-  ^sS  Itife  aiic5Jia> 

The  irTti.'SiTi'gv-  ftwiM  ti/r  tfepe^  liiae  tO'  tke  fwrar  line  scraplBe  inuate 
£  ^QSD-  c.TiSiT'gr  m  tliie  Spip?.  r]!!i,:„Tffi|:t!i  ilie  TiTajnsitiiciiiffi  is  a  smblie 
'I'OL'r.  TIk-  usrm  '"'O'-wiaier."  qH'iid?.  h  very  eluse,  im  agTnratire  lasage. 
-.'}  "fsidKrr ":  in  IV-Et.  g2-(5  tiie  inr©'  Tensas,  "faitiner"  and  "onrmer"' 

A.  V. .  --hsz  iiDss  Ti'ii'i-nsiT  Tki-*"'  ■'  euf^iinr  tengetfeier.  Butt  im  the 
ifrr'-ai  si-rsHi-rr  •■•;■:  Tjie  paralielism  feer^  the  "woi^  ""erfb^*   C«r 

srinsrr  &.-i>  -■:  ^ri-r  3cl-fa.  Oif  dis^bediejuee  tine  s5iii«^estiiMa  of 
m:rT-sz:ryir  sei  ,i_>:  -c  sr-zLriiirry.  in  Israel's  failoTe  to  re«^SHiie 
^^  >'"r---_rf  iLiT-r-V  ■  :->.>i:igs-  Tiie  last  ttro  stidnod  «f  1*e 
5;:^^ '7'^-.  — .-^r  i-j.^i^ai-  -  ..    -    --.  .  --55^-,  fjmuQjg^^iately  preeeding, 

£1^  —*'■  r^^^-i  r^  -  _:r  kas  £WEe  before.    "Dotfe 

m-ic  kz,:--"   ii,i  -■,:  _-•   ^^^  .giiikmA  e3:pr>fssed 

Wjt^r: :  :.L:-  iirzii-  ,-3- ,  V  rjirii.-,iu,.5Ei  sTirp^pHes  t&e  objee*  im  tlbomgbt: 


I'aralliliniii   in  ImiUih,  C'hiipttrs   l-li>  '2'-i9 

C'llAPTWI    I 

"Israel  d<H>s  not  know  and  reeoirnize  me";  but  also,  without 
olijcft :  ■"Israi'l  is  without  knowh-d{?f  and  understandinjf."  in 
all  thf  implications  of  those  terms.  The  whole  propheey  to  this 
p<»int.  then,  is  in  a  way  summed  up  in  these  two  lims.  Tin- 
s«'etioii  consists  of  ten  lines;  and  it  will  In-  seen  that  about  ten 
lines  are  fre<|U(ntly  piven  in  Isaiah  to  the  development  of  a 
th<-mt — a  statement  which  does  not  implj-,  of  course,  that  the 
|)rophet  counted  the  lines. 

4.  (a)  Ah,  sinful  nation,  (b^  n  people  laden  with  ioiqnitj,  (e ) 
a  MtM  of  evil-Uoern,  (<l)  children  that  arc  rorrupters. 
A  Strophe  of  four  perfectly  .synonjinous  lines;  the  compound 
phrase  "laden  with  inicjuity"  takes  the  place  of  a  simpb-  adjec- 
tive or  participle,  possibly  merely  because  the  ro<jt  of  the  noun 
•<»i/(»/i  (Arabic  ijhnuii)  was  not  us<d  in  other  fonnatiru)  at  this 
early  peri<Kl :  if  this  be  true,  it  would  seem  to  show  that  Isaiah 
k<pt  this  rfM»t  clearly  di.stiuct  from  the  '««•«  (Arabic  'aua) 
u.s»nl  in  21.3,  24.1.  19.14;  note  that  the  nnits  yhaua  and  x"/**' 
are  exact  synonyms:  lit.  "miss  the  way"  I.saiah  seems,  even 
more  than  other  writers,  conscious  of  Semitic  root  distinctions. 

4.   'ei    Ther    hare   foriiaken    the   Loril,    (f)    tbej    hare    provoke<l 

the  HoIt  One  of  Iiirael  onto  aoKer,  (g)  they  are  ^ne   (lit.  \teromf 

e«trani{e<l )   barkwani. 

As  the  te\t  .Stands  thcr«'  is  here  a  reversion  to  the  thn-e  stichoi 

tyiw   of  strophe:   three   parallel    lin<-s    (in    Hebrew   "provoked 

unto  anper"  is  one  word),  the  third,  however,  showing  a  slijrht 

ditTennee   in   praramatical   structure.       There    is   dose   thought 

parallelism   lietween   this  strophe   and    the   preceding :   the   one 

d'l'lans  the  sin.  the  other  defini-s  it  in  specific  terms.      In  such 

ca-ses  one  expe<-ts  a  parallelism  in  form  iK-tween  the  strophe  ami 

the  antustroph<-.  and  this  exixelation    is  worthy  of  consideration 

\:    ■'  -    .        .  ;.liras»'  "l>eeome 

■  ly :  "they  are 

Is.  42.17.  50.5: 

•  '  'turned    (away)    back."  lu'umjhu    Vi^»>r; 

1,  that  the  words  "fnim  Him"  "they  have 

turne«l,       iiM-'diAir.    nAf'njku,    havi-    fallen    out,    and    that    th'- 

[29.-.  I 


240  I'artdhlism   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

strophe  should  be  restored  to  one  of  four  lines  like  that  pi-e- 

ceding,  and  without  any  linguistic  gaucherie. 

5.  (a)  Why  should  ye  be  strickeu  any  more?  (b)  Ye  will  revolt 
more  and  more'  (lit.  "add  revolt''). 
Even  if  these  two  lines  are  read  as  parallels  in  form,  with 
"why"  (.or  "where")  repeated  in  thought  before  the  second, 
they  are  not  logically  parallel:  and  if  "why"  is  not  supplied, 
the  second  clause  would  seem  to  be  subordinate  to  the  tirst,  a 
circumstantial  clause  in  form.  P.sychologically  there  seems  to 
be  no  reason  here  for  the  avoidance  of  parallelism.  There  is 
no  climax  and  no  sudden  injection  of  a  new  idea  in  the  word 
"revolt" — indeed,  that  idea  has  been  repeatedly  expressed  in 
the  four  lines  just  preceding;  in  the  tiret  line  of  this  new  stanza, 
the  address  turns  from  the  heavens  and  earth  to  the  people 
themselves,  and  the  thought  turns  to  jmnishment;  and,  with  tht' 
exception  of  the  line  in  quest  inn.  wliirh  blurs  the  artistic  unity 
of  the  structure,  the  theme  of  punishment  is  developed  in  par- 
allelism through  verse  9.  Moreover,  the  natural  expectation 
of  parallelism  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  "any  more," 
'odh,  and  "more  and  more,"  tosifu,  are,  indeed,  parallel  terms. 
It  is  barely  possible,  of  coui-se,  that  like  other  words  denoting 
an  attitude  toward  God,  .s(7r(7.  "revolt,"  by  a  species  of 
metonymy,  dcnoti's  at  the  same  time  thr  rceiin-oeal  attitude  of 
God  toward  the  revolter,  i.e.,  desertion  of  man  by  God,  hence 
punishment  and  disaster  (cf.  'aicoii:  both  "iniquity"  and 
"punishment";  so  also  x^ ^' /  {'^dhdqd,  "righteousness"  and  "sal- 
vation"; hdrckh,  "kneel  to"  (lit.  "adore")  and  "cause  to 
prosper";  kdhhdd,  God's  "glory,"  and  man's  "reverence";  see 
also  the  note  on  hldhdr,  '2.11).  But  it  is  far  more  likely  that 
in  the  course  of  ritlicr  written  or  oral  tradition,  when  the  orig- 
inal stylistic  beauty  of  the  prophecy  came  to  be  neglected,  sard 
replaced  some  word  denoting  specifically  "pain,"  "anguish," 
e.g.,  the  approximate  homonj-m  (^drd  (cf.  Jer.  49.24,  where  i^drd 
denotes  physical  anguish;  and  with  the  restored  phrase  "add 
anguish,"  i.e..  "increase  your  anguish,"  cf.  Is.  29.19:  "the 
meek  shall  add  joy":  "increase  their  joy"). 

[296] 


I'linilhli.sni  ill  Isaiiili,  I'liii/jtirs  l-IO  241 

t'll.M'TKK    1 

5-fi.  (."c)  The  whole  head  is  sii-k,  (■!)  iiikI  tlio  wliolc  lieart  faint. 
(<ia)  I'roin  tlio  soli-  of  tlu'  foot  ovni  iiiito  tlu'  lioiid  (tliorc  i.s)  no 
iiotindiioss  in  it. 
It  is  diftk-iilt  to  say  wlu'tlior  this  is  to  lie  foiisidcred  a  three 
or  a  four  stichoi  strophe.  "From  sole  of  foot  to  head"  iiieaiis 
"the  wiiole  body,"  and  stands  in  thoiipht  jiarallel  to  "tlie 
whole"  of  the  ureeedinj;  lines;  also  jiarallel  nii'.'ht  lie  "no  sonnd- 
ne.ss  in  it";  hut  it  is  also  possible  to  read  all  of  the  words  in  Ga 
tojrether  as  a  siiifjle  lon<:  stiehos;  there  would  result  a  strophe 
of  two  short  and  on<'  loiijr  stiehoi,  the  last  not  in  as  elose  verbal 
parallelism  to  tlu'  Hrst  and  seeond  as  they  arc  to  eaeli  other 
(ef.  vei-se  2  of  this  eiiapter).  The  repetition  of  the  word 
"head,"  rosh,  in  two  lines  of  elose  pro|)in(iuity.  calls  for  criti- 
cism;  siicii  a  repetition,  unless  the  word  is  used  in  exactly  the 
.same  syntactic  construction,  hence  for  the  purpose  of  special 
eiii|)hasis,  is  stylistically  as  inele'rant  in  Hebrew  as  in  any  other 
lanfruajre.  "All  the  head  is  sick,  from  the  head  to  the  foot  no 
soundness,  ni'lhihii,  in  it,"  is  awkward;  evidently,  moreover,  the 
antecedent  of  "it"  is  meant  to  be  "body."  It  is  <iuitc  probable, 
then,  that  tlie  first  rush  has  displaced  an  original  bdsiir,  "flesh" 
or  "body":  the  whole  body,  inside  and  out,  is  diseased.  In 
support  of  this  emendation  Ps.  3S.4  may  be  cited:  "there  is  no 
soundness  [A.  V.  'sound  spot']  in  my  body."  Tiie  word 
wi<"</u>m  occurs  only  in  these  two  pa.ssapes;  its  formation  is  some- 
what irrepular,  and  it  was  quite  possibly  coined  by  Isaiaii  him- 
self, in  which  cjuse  the  phrase  in  tiic  Psalms  would  seem  to  be 
a  iiuotation  from  Isaiah,  and  to  preserve  the  oritrinal  form  of 
the  expression. 

6.   (t>)    Wounds,    and    lirui.sos,    ami    putrifying    sores;     (o)    tliey 
li.ive  not  been  flost>d,  neither  bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  oint- 
ment. 
If  the  preci'tlinp  is  a  three  line  strophe,  then  this  section  also 
inipht  be  jlividod  to  nnike  two  three  line  strophes,  each  consist- 
iiifr  of  two  sinple  synonjnns  parallel  in  form   (mascidine),  plus 
a  third  synonym    (feminine)    modified  by  an  additional   word. 
In  thoupht,  also,  these  two  stmphes  are  parallel  to  the  |)reced- 
inp:  the  body  is  sick;  it  is  all  one  wound;  it  is  not  treated. 

(297  1 


2-1:2  Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah,  Chapiers  1-10 

Chapter  1 

7.  (a)  Your  country  (is)  desolate,  (b)  your  cities  (are)  burned 
with  fire:  (c)  your  land,  strangers  devour  it  in  your  presence,  (d) 
and   (it  is)   desolate,  as  overthrown  by  strangers. 

This  strophe  is  identical  in  meaning  with  tlie  last,  witli  the 
substitution  of  literal  for  figurative  terms;  it  is  an  antistrophe 
in  thought.  Stylistically,  the  last  phrase  ("and  it  is  desolate," 
etc.,  lit.  "and  desolation")  is  oflfensive:  it  contains  a  repetition 
of  two  words  already  used  in  the  strophe,  "desolate"  and 
"strangers";  or  of  one  term,  if  for  "strangers"  be  substituted 
the  reading  "Sodom,"  as  suggested  by  some  critics:  "and  deso- 
late like  the  overthrowing  of  Sodom"" — which,  in  its  turn,  is 
objectionable  from  another  standjioint  (see  below).  Prob- 
ably the  words  "desolate"  and  "strangers"  have  come  from 
some  marginal  note  on  these  words,  while  "overthrown,"  k'^- 
)nahp(~khath,  similarly  is  due  to  the  reference  to  Sodom  below; 
thisc  words  were  tlien  taken  up  by  a  copyist  and  combined  into 
the  awkward  appendage  to  the  strophe.  Without  it  the  verse 
consists  of  two  normal  lines  plus  a  third  longer  line,  the  third, 
perhaps,  excessively  long;  possibly  l'^-neghd''khem,  "in  your 
presence,"'  also  has  come  from  the  margin,  in  reality  a  gloss 
d^gha)i'klinii.  "ynur  corn,"  exjilaining  "your  land."' 

8.  (a)  And  the  daughter  of  Zion  is  left  as  a  cottage  in  a  vine- 
yard, (b)  as  a  lodge  in  a  garden  of  cucumbers,  (c)  as  a  besieged 
(lit.  "guarded")   city. 

Again,  apparently,  a  three  sticlioi  strophe,  this  time  with  the 
longer  line  first;  in  form  it  is  inversely  parallel  to  the  preceding 
strophe.  The  thought  parallelism,  however,  is  obscured  in  8c ;  for 
the  phrase  "like  a  guarded  city,"  k'^-'ir  n^qurd,  is  not  parallel  to 
"cottage"  (lit.  "booth"),  and  "lodge.'"  "Guarded  city,"  if 
it  occurred  elsewhere,  would  certainly  be  interpreted  "city  i>re- 
served  from  danger"  or  possibly  "garrisoned,"  like  the  Arabic 
madhia  niaxrfisn  or  maxfufha;  or  "city  formerly  guarded" 
(cf.  1.21,  "the  [once]  faithful  city";  27.10,  "the  [once]  forti- 
fied city  is  desolate").  To  read  (or  understand),  instead, 
"blockaded  city"  still  leaves  the  picture  blurred;  the  assump- 
tion must  be  tltat  Isaiah  left  the  picture  of  absolute  loneliness 
expressed  in  the  first  two  lines  as  clear  as  it  is  left  in  30,17: 

[298] 


/'.in(//-//.sm   in   Is„i„h.  ClKiplns   1-10  '-M:! 

ClIAPTKU    1 

••till  y.'  1m'  l.-fl  as  a  mast  [torni;  A.  V.  ■iM-aiM.n')  upon  tin-  top 
of  a  mountain,  and  as  an  cnsi-.Mi  on  a  hill."  I'crliaiis  tlic 
sim|)li'st    coiTfi'tion    woukl    he    to   omit    the    last    "as."    A',    and 

ivatl:    "as    a    lodjrf    in    a    jrardi'ii    of    cucuininTs    (is)    the    ( 

t;uardfd  i-ity";  the  strop'i*'  w«>idd  then  eonsist  of  two  lines  of 
ii|ual  lenjrth.  Hut  it  .seems  more  pr(>l)alile  that  tlie  form  of  the 
strophe  as  handed  down  is  eorreet.  even  if  some  more  violent 
ehan«:e  in  tlie  te.\t  is  neees.sary  to  restore  its  eonsistency.  Tlie 
word  )i'\i'iri'i  svigtre-sts  the  Arahie  ualhiira  (ef.  Aramaie  ndtonl), 
applied  to  the  lijrht  seatTold  on  whieh  the  watehman  stands  in 
the  orehards  around  Dama.seus;  ]ierhaps  in  '  ir.  "city."  there  is 
a  eorruption  of  simie  sueh  word  as  'onii  (with  the  n  repeated 
from  the  next  wordl  :  in  the  .Jerusalem  Talmud  to  Jii'ibil  lialhnl 
i.\.16il  oeeurs  •Inhiyri  (root  'iiran  or  T/r.')  :  "llolzfreriiste  worauf 
die  Wiieliter  der  Felder  zur  Tmsehau  standen"  (Levy,  Nculub. 
W'lirlrrbiich).  Finally,  there  is  tin-  possibility  that  ' ir  n^\'urt'i 
is  a  eorruption  for  ' ir  h'\riril.  and  this  an  a.ssoeiative  lapsiiit 
liiitjiuii  for  iiiifihfltil  /i'<n"))i,  "tower  of  the  watehers,"  from 
the  apparently  eomnion  phrase  "from  the  tower  of  the  wateh- 
man to  th.'  fortified  eity"  (11  Kinjrs  17.9.  IS.S)  ;  the  probability 
of  sueh  a  substitution  of  terms  of  e.xaetly  opposite  eonnotation 
will  be  diseus.sed  in  other  |)laers  also:  e.<r..  2.12  ("low"  for 
"hiirh">. 

9.   (n)    Except  tlif  Lonl  Iin<l   left  unto   lis  a   very  siiiiill   reinimiit 
(lit.  a   remnant   like  a  little),  wc  shoulil   have  been  as  Sodom,    (b) 
(nnil)  we  .should  have  been  like  unto  Gomorrah. 
Thouj:h  there  is  parallelism  between  the  two  apodoses  of  this 
sentenee,  the  protasis  has  no  parallel;  and  while  there  are  man\ 
examples  in   I.saiah  of  n  lonj;  line  with   parallels  oidy   for  the 
latter  portion,  this  phi-nomenon  is  exeeediufrly  rare  where  sueh 
a  distinet  entity  ns  a  protasis  is  eoneerned  (for  a  somewhat  sim- 
ilar ease  see  4.2)  ;  moreover,   the   lonir  line  here   is  exee.ssively 
lonp.     The  verse  is  suspieions  beeause  the  Prophet  here  appar- 
ently  ineludes  himself  nmonf;  the  people    ("had   left   »into   us. 
\\i-    shi>uld    have    been"),    whereas    elsewhere    throughout    this 
propheey.  ami.   indeed,   praetieally  alwa.vs  he   identifies  himself 


244  I'anillvlism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

entirely  with  the  diviue  voice  (sueli  an  exception  as  the  term 
"our  God,"  in  verse  10,  is  without  significance,  while  that  in 
2.5  will  be  explained  later).  The  words  sound  like  an  "aside," 
injected  at  a  later  time;  for  they  blur  the  evident  intent  to  pic- 
ture a  process  of  destruction  still  threatening  absolute  extinction 
unless  reformation  is  iniiiicdiatt' ;  ef.  2.22.  Leaving  aside  the 
objection  to  tlie  first  piTson,  the  verse  might  be  restored  to 
parallelism  and  consistency  of  theme  by  omitting  the  protasis, 
and  reading  simply:  "almost  are  we  become  as  Sodom,  do  we 
resemble  Gomorrah."  But  there  is  still  the  strong  objection 
to  i^erson,  and  to  the  further  fact  that  it  weakens  the  force  of 
the  following  lines ;  the  whole  strophe  is  probably  a  gloss. 

10.    (a)    Hear   tlie   words   of   the   Lord   ye   rulers   of   Sodom;    (b) 
give  ear  unto  the  law  of  our  God,  ye  people  of  Gomorrah. 

These  two  lines  are  an  example  of  perfect  parallelism ;  and 
yet,  while  submissive  to  the  self-imposed  resti'aiut  of  form,  the 
Prophet-poet  in  a  characteristic  manner,  which  gains  in  dramatic 
force  just  because  of  that  formal  restraint,  by  the  twist  of  a 
single  phrase  turns  his  prophecy  into  a  direct  and  scathing 
denunciation  of  his  audience.  The  address  "Hear  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  ye  princes"  contains  no  suggestion  of  the  bitter  sar- 
casm to  come  at  the  end  of  the  line ;  indeed,  if  verses  lOff.  belong 
with  verses  2  to  9  as  one  prophecy,  the  first  words  of  verse  10 
intentionally  recall  the  parallel  address  ("Hear,  0  heaven!") 
in  verse  2,  and  allow  tlie  listening  princes  the  expectation  that 
they,  too,  are  to  l)e  called  upon  to  hear  of  Israel's  troubles  and 
faults;  a  recital  to  wliich  they  are  ready  to  listen  sympathet- 
ically, since  according  to  the  fashion  of  human  nature,  they  have 
not  realized  their  own  share  in  guilt.  "With  the  end  of  the 
line  ("Sodom")  the  appeal  becomes  suddenly  a  condemnation. 
Again,  in  the  next  line,  the  ordinary  course  of  parallelism  would 
probably  have  led  the  hearer  to  expect  parallel  to  "princes  of 
Sodom"  such  a  phrase  as  "leaders  of  Gomorrah"  (see  e.g.. 
Judges  5.3:  "Hear,  0  ye  kings;  give  ear,  0  ye  princes"")  ;  but, 
instead,  the  people  themselves  are  swept  into  the  denunciation. 
Sucli  a  sudden  sarcastic  turn  to  a  phrase  is  found  also  in  5.22 


ill   Isiiiiih,  Cluiptirs  J-IO 


(••All!  tliosi"  wild  arc  mitrlitv — in  ilriiikiii;,'  wiiii-I"    St'o  fiirtlior- 
nion;  the  note  to  3.6). 

11-13.  (Un)  To  what  purpo.ii"  is  tlio  iniiltituilo  of  your  sucrilices 
unto  mof  .snitli  tlio  LonI ;  (li)  I  iini  full  of  tlif  burnt  ofToriiiKN  of 
ruMi.t,  (o>  and  tlie  fat  of  fi'd  beasts;  (d)  anil  1  doli(;lit  not  in  the 
blood  of  bullocks,  (e)  or  of  lambs,  or  of  lie  goats.  (12)  Wlien  ye 
fonie  to  ajipear  before  me,  wlio  liatli  required  this  at  your  baud  to 
tread  my  rourtsf  (13a)  BrinR  no  more  vain  oblations:  (b)  incense 
is  an  abomination  unto  me,  (e)  the  new  moons  and  sabbaths,  the 
i-alliuR  of  assemblies,  I  eaniiot  away  with;  (d)  (it  is)  iniquity,  even 
the  solemn  meeting.  (14a)  Your  new  moons  and  your  appointoil 
feasts  my  soul  hateth;  (b)  they  are  a  trouble  unto  me;  (e)  I  am 
weary  to  bear  (them).  (15a)  And  when  ye  spread  forth  your 
hands,  I  will  hide  mine  eyes  from  you;  (b)  yea,  when  ye  make  mauy 
prayers,  I  will  not  hear:   (e)  your  hands  are  full  of  blooil. 

Ill  this  .series  of  voi*sos  the  general  intent  of  parallelism  seems 
evident;  eaeli  phase  has  at  least  one  parallel  (exeept  "saith  the 
Lord."  whieh,  not  forming'  |iart  of  the  propheey,  may  always 
ill-  refrarded  as  parenthetieal ).  As  the  text  stands  at  present, 
however,  the  parallelistie  order  does  not  always  stand  ont  as 
elearly  as  it  has  in  previous  strophes;  nor  is  the  theme  developed 
in  (|uite  the  lojrieal  nninner  one  is  led  to  expeet  in  Isaiah.  Surely 
tile  elear  visualization  of  a  xeiiie  of  fornml  serviee  sueh  as  is  here 
deserilied  would  result  in  plaein^  at  the  l)ejrinnin<r  of  the  pic- 
ture those  elements  whieh  stand  lofrieally  first :  the  parallel 
phra.ses  "appear  before  me"  and  "tread  my  courts."  It  is 
not  difticidt  to  suppose  that  liy  aecitlent  verse  12  was  omitteil 
from  its  proper  place  after  the  words  "To  what  purpose  is  it 
unto  me"  (translate  then:  "that"  \ki,  instead  of  "when")  ye 
eome"  etc.).  was  written  in  the  marjiin,  and  was  then  inserted 
l>y  a  copyist  in  the  wronp  place.  The  transposition  produces 
at  the  .same  time  structural  parallelism  at  the  openin<r.  in  the 
fonn  of  a  double  question  (incidentally,  "at  your  hand"  [«im/- 
i/xlh'kbi  III]  in  versi-  12  is  probably  a  slip  for  "from  you." 
inik-knu).  Furthermore,  by  placinp,  "I  delipht  not  in"  (lid) 
as  the  predicate  of  "the  nndtitude  of  your  sacrifices"  another 
parallelism  is  restored:  "I  am  fidl  of"  and  "I  delight  not  in" 
(or  "desire   not"),  with    parallel   peneric  objects  "sacrifices," 

[301] 


246  r'aninclism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

z<'hhdxi>ii,  and  "  l>ui'nt-offering.s, "'  'oloth;  in  apposition  with 
which  foHows  a  series  of  specific  terms.  It  should  further  be 
noticed  that  with  these  slight  transpositions  there  results  also  a 
natural  progression  in  the  description  of  the  divine  attitude 
toward  service :  from  a  rhetorical  questioning  of  its  utility 
through  an  expression  of  satiety,  displeasure,  weariness,  and 
loathing,  to  the  climax  in  verse  15,  absolute  rejection. 

In  verse  13,  the  words  "vain,"  shdw,  and  "iniquity,"  dwcii, 
are  striking;  they  soften  the  idea,  expressed  up  to  this  point, 
tliat  God  rejects  formal  hand  and  lip  service — they  liave  the 
appearance  of  an  afterthought ;  for  surely  the  logical  place  for 
such  modifying  terms  would  have  been  at  the  beginning  or  at 
the  end ;  it  could  not  have  been  Isaiah 's  intention  to  condemn 
all  other  service,  whether  "vain"  or  not,  and  condemn  only  such 
oblation  as  is  "vain."  Moreover,  the  word  "iniquity,"  dwen, 
is  awkwardly  inserted  into  the  middle  of  what  would  otherwise 
be  a  perfectly  natural  phrase,  "the  calling  of  assemblies  and 
[R.  V.  "I'vi'ii""]  the  solrmn  meeting."  q'rd'  hiiqrd'  \ra-' "rdrd. 
Evidently  the  interrupting  words  have  come  from  the  margin  ; 
Id'  dlihal  was  ^vritten  tliere  because  accidentally  omitted  from 
its  proper  place;  while  divoi  (like  the  corresponding s/iaiii  above), 
was  the  addition  of  a  reader  who  wished  to  soften  the  absolute 
condemnation  of  service.  If,  nevertheless,  'dwen  and  shdw  are 
to  be  retained,  they  must  at  least  be  placed  in  parallelism. 

Surely,  too,  in  verse  14  "your  new  moons,""  ^^odhshi'khriii.  is 
a  careless  slip:  thr  new  moon  lias  just  been  mi'Utioned  in  verse 
13;  intended  was  evidently  "your  fi'stivals,"  \ag<jikhem,  the 
absence  of  any  reference  to  which  would  in-  noticeable  (cf.  Amos 
5.22)  in  a  list  as  detailed  as  is  this  one.  Tlie  abundance  of  detail 
in  verses  1-14  is  worthy  of  note,  as  it  offers  evidence  in  support 
of  the  authenticity  of  detailed  lists  elsewhere  in  Isaiah ;  extreme 
detail  has  a  stylistic  and  dramatic  value  at  times,  no  less  than 
extreme  terseness ;  here  it  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  theme. 

Ill  vi'vsc  1."),  whili-  the  first  two  lines  ai-e  in  synouymous  par- 
allelisni.  tliere  is  no  similar  parallel  to  the  third  sentence:  "your 
hands  are   full   of  blood."       On  purely  rhetorical   grounds  the 

[302] 


I'aralhlism   iti   Isaiah.  Chiiptns    l-IO 


I'limax  lioiv  iuif;lit  imlcfd  justify  a  castiiitr  ulT  of  formal  re- 
straint, ami  gain  in  foivi-  by  aliniptiu'ss;  luit  at  the  same  time 
till'  line  does  stand  in  a  more  distant  parallelism,  that  of  effeet 
and  eanse,  with  thi'  first  line  of  the  strophe  ("when  ye  spread 
forth  your  palms  |  A.  \'.  "hands"!  I  will  hide  mine  eyes"), 
the  intent  at  parallelism  bein^  made  elear  by  the  synonymous 
ti-rms  "j)alms"  and  "hands";  contrasted  with  this  speeitie  rela- 
tionship the  absenee  of  a  fourth  line  eomplenientary  to  tin- 
seeiuid  ("Yea.  when  ye  make  many  prayers,  I  will  not  hear") 
beeomes  illofjieal.  In  previous  eases  of  three  line  parallelism, 
with  the  third  line  dilTerin-i  from  the  first  two,  the  third  stood 
in  no  eloser  i)arallelism  to  one  than  to  the  other  of  them;  but 
here,  as  the  text  stands,  proximity  alone  would,  to  the  careful 
readi'r,  make  "uneleanness  of  hands"  seem  the  speeifie  rea.son 
for  the  rejection  of  .service  of  the  lips.  In  Is.  59.1-3,  where  this 
theme  is  echoed  (such  apparent  references  to  the  earlier  Isaiah 
are  fairly  frequent  in  the  later),  occurs  the  pa.ssajre :  "Neitlier 
is  His  ear  heavy,  that  it  cannot  hear;  your  sins  have  hid  his 
face  from  you  that  He  will  not  hear;  for  your  hands  are  defiled 
with  blood  and  your  fin<rers  with  iniquity;  your  lips  have  spoken 
lies,  your  ton<;ue  hath  uttered  perverseness" ;  which  suggests 
that  probably  a  line  has  fallen  out  in  Is.  1.5:  "your  lips  are 
defiled  with  lies"  (cf.  in  6.")  "man  of  unclean  lips  . . .  in  the 
midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips")  ;  hen-  specifically  with  ref- 
erence to  false  testimony  and  unjust  judgment  (cf.  Is.  32.7), 
the  theme  developed  in  verse  17.  (For  another  parallel  to 
"blood"  cf.  4.4.) 

This  .section,  verses  lO-l;")  as  now  arranged,  contains  just 
twenty  lines  (.see  the  translation). 

lt>-17.  (Itia)  Wash  you,  (b)  make  you  clean;  (c)  put  away 
the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes;  (d)  cease  to  do 
evil;  (17a)  learn  to  do  well;  (b)  seek  judgment,  (c)  release  the 
oppressed;    (d)  judge  the  fatherless;    (e)   plead  for  the  widow. 

The  syntactic  parallelism  is  evident  because  of  the  nine  im- 
peratives; but  elo.scr  logical  parallelism  grovips  the  following 
(lairs:  "wash"  and  "cleanse"';  "cea.sc  to  do  evil,"  "loarn  to 

(  303  1 


248  Parallel  mi!   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

do  well";  "judge  the  fatherless,"  "plead  for  the  widow."  The 
first  couplet  ("wash  you,"  "make  you  clean")  is  a  figurative 
general  introduction  to  the  whole  series  of  specific,  literal  terms 
that  follows,  and  at  the  same  time  forms  a  parallelistic  connec- 
tion with  the  end  (verse  15)  of  the  last  strophe  as  restored  (your 
hands  arc  bloody,  your  lips  defiled:  wa.sh  you,  i.e.  your  hands; 
cleanse  you,  i.e.  your  lips).  Noticealile  is  the  excessive  length 
of  the  line  "Put  away  the  evil  of  j'our  doings  from  before  mine 
eyes";  the  line  is  suspicious  also  because  of  the  repetition  of 
the  i-oot  (though  not  the  exact  form)  "evil" ;  "put  away  the  evil 
of  your  deeds"  and  "cease  to  do  evil"  are  too  nearly  identical 
to  justify  the  repetition  even  in  a  passage  as  detailed  as  this; 
for  surely  the  addition  of  the  words  "from  before  mine  eyes" 
to  the  first  of  these  phrases  cannot  be  meant  to  be  emphatic 
(i.e.,  do  your  evil  deeds  elsewliere)  ;  "put  away,"  lidslru.  by 
itself  means  "make  an  i-nd  df"  (cf.  verses  25  and  3. IS;  Ji-r. 
4.4).  The  similar  phrase  "before  you"  has  been  noticed  in 
verse  7;  see  again  in  13.16;  also  Amos  9.3;  it  is  a  phrase  which 
might  readily  slip  off  the  tongue  (or  the  pen)  of  a  reader  or  an 
editor.  Sj-mmetry  is  secured  by  omitting  this  line  of  glosses; 
read  hds'irn  for  'ashshfru  (lit.  (a)  "lead"  or  (b)  "call  happy")  ; 
and  correct  the  a-n-a^  Xeyofj-erop  \'r7»u7r  to  x">»'''S  ("violence," 
"injustice")  in  17e. 


18-20.  (18a)  Como  now,  and  let  us  reason  together,  saith  the 
LorJ:  (b)  Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  tliey  shall  be  as  ivhite  as 
snow;  (e)  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool. 
(19)  If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat  of  the  good  of  the 
land;  (20a)  But  if  ye  refuse  and  rebel,  ye  shall  be  devoured  with 
the  sword;    (b)   for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 

A  double  pair  of  parallels,  each  of  the  four  stiehoi  in  the 
form  of  a  hyjiDtlietical  senlenec,  stand  between  two  single  lines 
(18a,  2()b).  whicli  t(i  a  certain  extent,  also  form  a  parallel;  i.e., 
an  example  of  the  "eiiveln]ie"  eonstructiou  :  at  the  same  time 
the  last  stichos.  "I-"(ir  th.>  month  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken."  is 
parallel  to  a  phrase  in  the  first  strophe  of  tlie  whole  prophecy 
(verse  2). 

[  ;^04  ] 


ranillillsni   ill   Isaiah.  Cluiiitns   1-JO  1249 

ClI.VPTKK    1 

Of  til.-  four  iiit.Tv.iiinj,'  s.'iit.'iici-s,  the  s.roiul  pair  ("if  yi- 
bo  williii;;.  cti-. ")  (.•oiitaiii  a  I'li-ar  statcuifiit  of  tlio  lojiiful,  just 
n-siilts  (if  Israel's  i-oiuliK't ;  aiul  the  first  pair,  east  in  exaetly 
the  same  forin,  must  he  interpreted  also  as  expressiu'r  a  lo^ieal 
auil  just  eonelusioii:  if  a  man  sins,  he  must  reiient  and  make 
reparation,  tind  the  ileeper  the  sin,  the  frreater  the  neeil  of  re- 
pentanee;  "if  your  sins  arc  as  searlet.  tiien  sluill  they  beeome 
(shall  you  make  them)  white  as  snow;  then  if  they  are  white  as 
snow  (if  you  are  wholly  ohediont),  you  shall  prosper;  but  if 
you  are  rebi-llious  (if  your  sins  do  not  beeome  white  as  wool 
and  snow),  your  punishment  shall  eontinue  even  unto  absolute 
destruetion."  Sueh  must  be  the  emphasis  in  these  verses  if 
there  is  any  signifieance  to  the  parallelism  in  formal  and  syn- 
taetie  eonstruetion. 


2\.  (a)  How  is  tlio  faithful  I'ity  booonic  nii  linrlot!  (li)  (it  was) 
full  iif  juil);m>-iit,  (f)  righteousness  IoiIki'iI  in  it;  (cl)  hut  now 
uiunloriTS. 

The  propheey  extendin;:  from  vcrsi'  "Jl  thniuf,'li  verse  2U 
.-.hows  almost  |)erfeet  parallelism.  Thoujjrh  the  riiynie  also  is 
notieeable.  it  is  jiossibly  aeeidental  (see  also  •J.ti):  inileed,  it 
is  sometimes  impossible  in  parallelism  to  avoid  that  defrree 
of  rhyme  whieli  extends  only  to  verbal  aiul  nominal  syllabie 
snftixis;  anil  this  faet  may  explain  the  oripin  of  rhyme  in  the 
Arable  suf . 

In  verse  21  the  terms  "faithful  city."  "the  one  full  of  judfr- 
nunt  ■  (or  "justiee").  "in  which  abode  riphti-ousness"  are  not 
oidy  thonpht  parallels,  but  also,  to  a  jrreati-r  extent  than  the 
Knplish  reveals,  syntaetie  parallels.  Tlie  eonstruetion  of  noun 
i;overninp  a  following  abstraet  penitive  so  freijuently  takis  the 
plaee  of  noun  and  (in  Semities  followinp)  adjeetivc  that  the 
two  eonstrnetions  become  almost  identical  to  the  linguistic  con- 
sciousness; and  both  in  later  Hebrew  and  in  later  Arabic  the 
tendency  is  to  n'vc  to  the  adji-ctivc  the  construction  proper  to 
the  abstract  noun.  The  relative  clause,  also,  is  so  closely  iden- 
tical with  the  adjietive  (or  participbO  appositive  that  in  strict 


30.-)  I 


250  PardUelisHi   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

Semitic  syntax  it  must  submit  to  the  same  law  of  deliuiteuess 
as  the  adjective;  and  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  adjective  itself 
may  always  be  used  as  an  independent  substantive  (e.g.,  in  verse 
24  "the  mighty  of  Israel"),  so  the  relative  clause  may  take  the 
place  of  a  substantive  (see  e.g.,  2.8,  20,  and  the  note  to  2.22)  ; 
here  the  clause  "righteousness  lodged  in  it"  may  be  a  relative 
clause,  with  relative  pronoun  omitted  (cf.  10.24)  ;  it  is  prac- 
tically the  equivalent  of  "in  which  righteousness  used  to  lodge," 
"the  former  righteous  one";  and  its  appositional  parallelistic 
nature  is  made  certain  by  26c,  the  refrain,  where  "city  of 
righteousness"  is  substituted  for  it.  ^lon'ovcr,  inasmuch  as 
ydlln,  "lodge,"  is  frequently  used  of  abstract  qualities  whieli 
"continue. ■■  the  cUmsc  is  not  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  per- 
sonification of  the  city  introduced  at  the  beginning  of  the 
strophe;  although  at  the  same  time  it  is  " righteousness " '  which 
in  this  stichos  is  personified  as  the  inhabitant  of  Zion.  In 
anj-  case,  all  three  lines  are  figurative;  the  next  strophe  is  also 
figurative  (though  the  figure  changes)  ;  and  figurative  terms 
continue  to  verse  22.  Thus  the  one  line  (21d),  "and  now 
murderers,"  stands  alone  in  its  literalncss,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  is  grammatieall>-  awkward.  In  defence  of  the  line  in 
its  present  position  it  lui'/ht  be  urged  that  its  very  awkwardness 
and  concreteness  give  it  a  spiMMal  cliniaetie  emphasis;  but.  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  that  would  be  emphasis  misplaced:  for,  as  the 
poem  develops,  greed,  not  murder,  is  seen  to  be  its  real  sub- 
ject, and  the  following  stroplie,  since  it  contains  no  similarly 
emphatic  term,  would  then  be  a  decided  anticlimax.  The  phrase 
is  probably  misplaced. 

"Whether  a  three  iif  four  line  stmphe,  it  contains  a  long  first 
line,  with  paraUels  only  for  the  latter  half,  a  not  uncommon  type 
(see  verse  8,  and  2.12,  2.20,  3.1,  3.18,  7.19;  cf.  also  10.12)  ;  the 
slight  feeling  of  asymmetry  holds  the  entire  poem  here  in  sus- 
pense until  the  concluding  strophe,  which  is  of  similar  forma- 
tion (though  consisting  of  only  two  lines)  and  also  of  almost 
identical  ]iliraseology,  a  variety  of  the  envelope  figure  applied 
to  a  whole  poem  instead  of  merel\-  to  a  strophe  or  stanza.. 

[  300  1 


I'linill.lism   in   Isnmh,  <'li,ii)t<rs   1-10  li")! 

(IIAI'TKR    1 

22-23.   (22n)    Thy   silver   is   bcooinc   ilross;    (h)    tliy   wliio   iiiixoil 
with  water:    (23n)   thy  prinees   (are)   robellioiis,   (lo   ami  eoiii))iiiiioii.s 
of  thieves:    (c)   every  one  lovcth  gifts,   (<1)   ami   followeth  after  re- 
wards;   (e)    they    jmlge    uot    the    fatherless,    (f)    neither    doth    the 
cause  of  the  widow  eoinc  unto  them. 
Vt'i-st'  2;J  oxplains  concretely  the  iinvimis  (iu'iins;  and  riuin 
tliis    standpoint    the    reference    to    "iimrderers'    in    versi'    'Jl 
belongs  here.     "And  now  murderers,"  ir^-'titiri   »(K;-rt^'i"\i»i,  is 
perhaps  a  corruption  of  an  orijrinal  phrase  "as.senibly  of  nuir- 
(lenrs, "    ini-' "lUitith    tii'rui^x'xhn,    jiarallel    to    "eoiiipaiiions    of 
thieves."  or  hitter  "company  of  thieves"    {^ihlur  for  yiihhn: 
ef.  llosea  6.9:  "the  company  of  jiriests  murder  in  tlie  way"; 
for   '"tihoth,   ef.    Ps.    22.17.    "a.s.seml)ly    of    tlie    wicked":    also, 
"pack."  " swarm "U      The  term  "murderer"   here   is  perliaps 
hy|)erl)ole;  though  the  injustice  .us  described  mifrlit  indeed  result 
in  the  deatii  of  tiio.se  defrauded.     The  transferrence  to  verse  2:? 
makes  another  three  line  (anti)  strophe,  each  line  of  wliicii  cor- 
responds to  one  ill  the  first  strophe:  fa  it  ii  fulness  and  relullioii: 
justice  and  robbery;  rifrlitcousncss  and  iiuirdir:  iietwi'eii  tiie  two, 
however,  stands  a  couplet,  verse  22. 

24.  (a)  Therefore  saith  the  Lord,  (h)  the  Lonl  of  hosts,  (ci 
the  mighty  (One>  of  Israel,  (d)  Ah,  I  will  ease  nie  of  mine  nilver- 
sjirii's,  (e)  and  avenge  mc  of  mine  enemies. 

If  the  introductory  words  (24a-c)  stand  witiiin  the  strophic 
arraiif'tinent.  it  is  easy  to  divide  them  so  as  to  make  either 
another  two  line  .strophe  (one  loii<r  line  and  a  shorter  line  par- 
alb!  to  its  lalti-r  half),  or  a  three  line  symmetrical  strophe. 

2.>-2)>.  (2.'>a)  And  I  will  turn  my  han<l  upon  thee,  (In  ami 
purely  purge  away  thy  droiui,  (c)  and  take  away  all  thy  tin:  (2(>a) 
And  I  will  restore  thy  judges  as  at  the  first.  (l>)  and  thy  coun.sellors 
as  at  the  iM'ginning:  (e)  afterward  thou  shall  again  be  ealle<I  Tho 
city  of  righteousness,   (d)   The  faithful  city. 

Tiie  parallelism  is  again  evident  in  these  three  strophes; 
though  the  .second  and  third  membi-|-s  of  verse  2.')  are  more 
ilosely  parallel  to  each  other  than  they  are  to  tlie  fii-st.  In 
matters  of  detail:  the  doubtful   word   "purely"    (kab-bi'ir;  lit. 


[.W 


252  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

either  "like  purity"  or  "as  with  lye")  is  parallel  to  "all"; 
possibly  the  Septuagint  eVf  KaOapov  i-epresents  an  original  lah- 
hor:  "into  purity"  (ef.  "burn  into  lime"  in  Amos  2.1),  i.e., 
"entirely."  If.  however,  the  emendation  hak-kilr.  "in  a  fur- 
nace," is  accepted,  then  neither  this  word  nor  ■"all"  is  emphatic  ; 
both  are  inserted  for  the  sake  of  length :  for  ' '  smelt  in  the  fur- 
nace" means  no  more  than  ".smelt"  alone.  The  repetition  of 
'dshlhhd  (verse  25,  "I  will  turn";  verse  26,  "I  will  restore"), 
in  two  different  senses  so  closely  together,  is  inelegant;  the 
Septuagint,  which  does  not  intentionally  avoid  using  the  same 
word  twice  in  the  ti-anslation  of  Isaiah — indeed,  sometimes  uses 
repetition  where  tlie  Hebrew  uses  synonyms — has  eVa^ft)  in 
verse  25  (=^dshlbhf(,  Amos  l.M),  and  eiriaTy^ao}  in  verse  26,  i.e.. 
'dqhiifi:  "I  will  establish."  The  latter  is  exactly  the  term  used 
in  Judges  2.16  (ivay-ydqcm  '"dhdiiai  shophctiin),  of  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Judges.  Perhaps,  however,  the  first  'dshibhd  was 
originally  'dnlphd,  as  in  Is.  11.15 :  at  any  rate,  it  is  easy  to  believe 
that  in  one  case  or  the  other  the  text  was  illegible,  and  Hebrew 
and  Septuagint  each  supplied  a  word  from  the  context.  It  is 
also  possible,  since  verse  25  seems  to  be  an  antistrophe  to  verse 
22,  a  cou])lrt,  that  verse  25a  ("And  I  will  turn  my  hand  upon 
thee")  is  out  of  jilace ;  indeed,  since  it  is  a  proper  introduction 
to  a  new  act,  if  tin-  "I'liemies"  ai'c  not  outside  enemies  who  are 
first  to  be  punished,  but  are  the  "i'(ibl)ers"  and  "murderers," 
the  "dross"  and  "alloy"  within,  this  ti-ausitimi  vitsc  is  logically 
superfluous. 

Concerning  the  closing  strophi\  see  under  verse  21. 

27.  (a)  Zioii  shall  be  redeemed  with  judgment  (b)  and  her  eon- 
verts  with  righteousness. 
"Converts,"  shahhi'hd,  is  parallel  to  "Zion":  perhai)s  the 
closer  parallel  iinsh'hhi'hd  ("her  inhabitants";  cf.  "inhabitants 
of  Zion"  in  12. G,  "inhabitant  of  Jerusalem,"  5.3)  was  the 
original  reading;  it  is  Zion  and  her  at  present  unrepentant 
inhabitants  that  need  redemption. 


[308] 


rarullilisiii   in   Isuuih,  Chnptirs    l-ld  2r)8 

('llAPTKK    1 

28.  (a)  Ami  ttie  ili'striictioii  (lit.  ••  liroakiiiu "  l  of  tlio  traiis- 
(jrossora  iiiul  of  tin-  .simiors  (shall  lie)  toni'tlicr,  (hi  ami  tlicy  that 
fuDuiko  tlio  Lord  will  be  ooiisunied. 

Corruption  of  tin-  ti-.xt  is  as  i-vidi-nt  luTf  as  is  tin-  iiitiiition 
of  parallelism;  but  wlu-tiier  tin-  stropiio  was  orifrinally  om-  of 
two  or  of  thn-e  liiifs  is'iloulitful.  Tin-  last  mtinlu'r  of  tlie  strophe 
(■'ami  they  that  forsake,"  ete.^  is  ap|iarently  in  ^rootl  order; 
hut  the  verb  yikhli'i  iiiifjiit  better  be  translated  "shall  be  uo 
more"  (ef.  '"eea-se,"  as  in  16.4,  "the  spoiler  eeasetli,"  and  "be 
eiit  off"  in  11.13)  ;  i.e.,  Zion  shall  be  redeemed  beeaiise  her  peo- 
ple shall  eea.se  to  be  forsakers  of  God.  This  interpretation  is 
demanded  if  verse  29  belou'rs  after  verse  28;  they  surely  eannot 
"be  a-sliamed"  when  "they  have  been  destroyed,"  nor  should 
they  be  destroyed  beeanse  they  have  beeome  ashamed,  i.e.,  have 
repented.  The  parallel  verb  demanded  at  the  bet!:iniun<j  of 
verse  28,  then,  is  not  shrihh'rii,  "break."  but  rather  .ihdbh'- 
tliu,  "eease"  (ef.  Is.  14.4:  "the  oppressor  has  eeased")  ;  and 
il(i\<imr  ("tofrether,"  due  perhaps  to  the  i/d^f/*'"'  in  verse  31) 
was  perhaps  orifjinally  yaxd'h'i  ("e(>asi'  to  be."  parallel  to 
shi'tbluith  in  24.8,  e.g.;  ef.  Judjres  5.6,  7).  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  two  line  vei-se  was  intended,  it  is  diffieult  to  see  why  the 
superfluous  i/axddic  was  addetl  to  a  line  sufHeiently  lonj;  without 
it.  The  three  line  .strophe,  if  restored,  is  ajrain  one  in  wliieh 
the  third  .synonym,  "desertei-s  of  God,"  ditTers  sli^rhtly  in  form 
and  in  di-gree  of  synonymity  from  the  first  and  seeond. 

29.  (a)  For  they  .shall  Iw  a.shamod  of  the  oak.s  whiih  ye  have 
ilesireil,  (li)  ami  ye  ehall  bo  eoiifoumled  for  the  pirileii.s  that  ye  have 

The  eorreetion  "ye"  for  "they"  (shall  be  lushamed)  in 
stiehos  a  is  demanded  by  the  parallelism  in  b;  Septuagint,  how- 
ever, reads  third  person  thmughoiit.  If  the  seeond  person  is 
oorreet,  the  validity  of  the  interpretation  advaneed  for  the 
previ«ms  verse  is  strenpthened :  those  who  are  to  be  redeemed 
are  the  very  sinners  to  whom  the  Prophet  is  addre.ssing  himself 
here.  "To  be  ashamed  of,"  of  eonrse.  is  "to  be  disappointed 
in,"  and  "eome  to  a  realization  of  the  uselessness  of." 


.309  1 


254  I'anilhlism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

30.  (a)  For  ye  shall  be  as  an  oak  whose  leaf  fadeth,  (b)  and 
as  a  garden  that  hath  no  water. 

Two  facts  of  style  are  noticeable  here:  the  repetition  of  kl, 
"for,''  at  the  beginning  of  verses  29  and  30;  and  the  repetition 
of  "oaks"  and  "gardens."  If  verse  30  belongs  here  and  is  in 
the  proper  form,  the  second  kt,  which  is  then  parallel  to  the  first, 
might  be  translated  "yea":  "for  ye  shall  be  ashamed;  yea, 
ye  shall  be  as  oaks."  But  the  repetition  of  "oaks"  here,  in  a 
figurative  usage  and  in  no  way  parallel  to  the  same  tenn  used 
literally  in  tlie  previous  strophe — as  though  it  were  an  after- 
thought due  to  the  first  reference — seems  too  casual  to  be  due 
to  Isaiah.  It  were  better  to  think  its  position  here  due  to  a 
reader,  or.  if  the  verse  is  really  Isaiah's,  to  the  compiler  of  these 
prophecies.  If,  however,  the  verse  was  placed  here  by  Isaiah 
himself,  then,  despite  the  ki  (which  as  in  3.8  then  would  become 
subordinate  to  the  previous  ki),  it  would  be  better  to  suppose 
an  error  in  the  person  of  the  verb,  and  again  read,  with  the 
Sejituagint,  "fur  tliry  (shall  be  as  an  oak,"  etc.).  the  subject 
being  "oaks"  and  tlie  preposition  "as"  (k'')  being,  perhaps, 
the  so-called  "kaf  veritatis"  or  "kaf  of  the  predicate";  though 
the  comparison  might  in  reality  be  due  to  the  fact  tliat  implied 
in  the  terms  "oaks"  and  "gardens"  in  verse  29  is  the  idea  of 
idolatrous  worship :  the  intent  of  the  comparison  would  then  be 
to  liken  these  sacred  trees  and  groves  to  ordinary  trees  and 
groves,  and  still  further  to  those  trees  and  groves  which  wither 
and  like  which  they,  too,  will  prove  useless  and  will  be  deserted. 

31.  (a)  And  the  strong  shall  be  as  tow,  (b)  and  the  maker  of 
it  as  a  spark,  (c)  anil  they  sliall  both  burn  together,  (d)  and  none 
shall  quench. 

The  main  difficulty  in  tliis  verse  as  it  stands,  lies  in  the 
absence  of  any  clear  reasdu  for  the  comparison  lictwccn  "maker 
of  it"  and  "spark."  In  what  sense  can  a  man  be  likened  to  a 
spark ?  At  the  bases  of  Isaiah's  figures  of  speech  there  is  always 
some  easily  recognizable  natural  phenomenon.  The  objection 
is  not  satisfied  even  if  "strong"'  lie  interpreted  as  "strong 
(man)"  and  if  instead  of  ■•maker  of  it,"  p,y"lo.  Uwrc  be  read 


[310; 


ranilhlisiii   ill   Isiiiiih,  Clniitl,  rs   1-10  2.').') 

ril.M'TEK    1 

"liis  work,"  /;(/"/'( -uiiliss,  iiiilrcd.  the  "stroiij;  mair"  is  thi; 
smith,  anil  "his  work"  is  the  objiH-t  ht-  is  ti)rf:iii'r  at  tho  anvil. 
Sti-ophii-  paralh'iisni.  and  tho  lofrical  di'VchtpnuMit  of  the  thoii<rlit, 
would  It-ad  the  reader  to  expeet  here  a  further  reference  to  the 
saered  trees,  and  the  manner  of  their  destruetion;  and,  indeed, 
the  word  "stron<;,"  xfii,<'>n,  in  its  oidy  other  oeeurrenee  (Amos 
■J. 9)  is  used  in  the  fifrure  "stron<r  as  the  oaks";  it  means  really 
"sturdy,"  or  rather  "ru<rtjed."  and  quite  possibly  means  hert? 
not  "the  stronn:  man"  but  "the  strong  tree"  (ef.  10.33,  where 
"the  hijrh"  and  "the  lofty"  mean  "the  hijjrh  and  lofty  ti'ees"). 
Perhaps,  then,  for  po'olo  shoidd  be  son<rht  a  term  jiarallel  to 
"tree";  '"tiilpho  ( with  /  for  »i, and  transposition),  "its  branelies," 
is  possible.  The  word  for  "si)ark"  used  here  (iil(;i'ir)  is  a  dira^ 
Xeyofifuov,  from  a  root  meaninfr  apparently  "to  shine";  the 
speeifie  meaning  is  derived  from  the  eontext,  and  might  as 
well  be  "flash,"  "conflagration."  "flames."  as  "spark"  (the 
language  i)os.se.s.ses  other  words  for  "sjiark"  as  will  as  for 
"flame").  With  the  resultant  picture  of  the  tree  with  burn- 
ing branches  (here,  of  coui-se,  the  single  tree  is  the  representative 
of  all  the  trees,  and  the  branches  are  the  entire  foliage  of  the 
garden^  compare  tliat  of  tin-  burning  bush,  which,  however, 
being  a  really  saered  tree,  was  not  consumed;  cf.  also  Jer.  11.16: 
"The  Lord  called  thy  name  a  green  olive  tree, . . .  he  hath  kindled 
fire  upon  it,  and  the  branches  of  it  are  broken  (but  read,  per- 
haps, "consumed"  6/i'"ri7  for  nV I'l)  ;  and  in  Arabic  shtijani 
mntaqi'idij^n:  "trees  with  soft,  weak  branches,  which,  when  the 
wind  blows,  blaze  forth  with  fire"  (Lane,  s.  v.  Qiiflaxa)  ;  and 
the  proverb:  "Rend  me  the  branches  and  I  shall  kindle  fire  for 
thee."  If  there  is  needed  a  more  specific  referenei-  to  the 
garden.  ' " ml pJn'ih ,  "In-r  (i.e..  the  garden's  [fem.p  branches, 
foliage"  might  be  read.  To  read,  as  has  been  suggested  Ity 
some,  "his  work  shall  l)e  as  thorns"  (h/i'i'I'C.  instead  of  Hi^t/f) 
without  changing  po'olo  or  po'"li),  still  leaves  the  latter  without 
any  apparent  imtural  place  in  the  picture  of  thi-  forest  or  gra.ss 
(ire,  a  picture  which  .seems  to  liave  appealed  strongly  to  Isaiah. 

At  the  end  of  this  poem  occurs  the  short  line  "and  none  shall 
quench"    (Wi'n   Wkhabbi),   parallel    to   "they  .shall   burn    to- 
[.111] 


256  Faffillilism   in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  1 

gether";  suuli  a  short  line  is  a  very  effeetive  rhetorical  tleviee 
in  its  proper  place  (e.g-.,  as  here,  at  the  end  of  a  poem),  either 
because  of  its  comparative  brevity,  or  because  each  word  is  to 
be  emj^hasized  and  held,  so  as  to  make  the  time  value  of  the  line 
equal  to  that  of  the  other  lines  (cf.  "and  none  sliall  save"'  in 
5.29  and  elsewhere). 

Chapter  2 

2.  (a)  And  it  sliall  come  to  pass  iu  the  last  days,  (b)  (that)  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  (e)  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills. 

The  phrase  "and  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days," 
w<^-hdyd  he-'ax^nth  h<nj-ijdiiih)i.  stands  clearly  without  parallel, 
just  as  does  usuallj-  the  similar  phrase  "and  it  shall  be  on  that 
day"  (4.2;  7.18,  20,  21;  10.20;  11.11)  ;  it  might  be  compared  to 
a  prelude,  an  opening  strain  at  the  beginning  of  a  musical  com- 
position, and  independent  of  it ;  or  it  is  a  sort  of  title :  "Prophecy 
concerning  the  Last  Day. ' '  Similarily  such  a  phrase  as  ' '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord"  may  be  the  etjuivalent  of  a  title. 

The  first  strophe  of  the  prophecy  consists  of  a  long  (2b)  and 
a  shorter  line  (2c),  as  is  frequently  the  case:  here,  however,  the 
first  line  is  unusually  long,  and  the  word  "house"  is  sujier- 
fluous ;  despite  the  fact  that  it  occurs  in  the  other  version  of  this 
poem  (Micah  4.5),  it  probably  is  a  variant  of  "mountain"  and 
has  wi-ongly  been  incorporated  in  the  text.  The  Septuagint. 
indeed,  makes  it  a  parallel  to  "mountain";  "the  mountain  of 
the  Lord  .shall  be  manifest  (ifj,<f)avk).  and  the  house  of  God  (be) 
on  the  top  of. the  mountains";  while  in  ilicah  the  Septuagint 
reads:  "The  mountain  of  the  Lord"  (i.e.,  without  "house"), 
though  it  has  a  second  predicate,  again  yielding  a  parallel:  "the 
mountain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  manifest,  established  on  the  tops 
of  the  mountains."  In  verse  .3,  where  the  two  words  occur 
again,  the  parallelism  is  clear.  The  evidence  would  seem  to 
show,  then,  that  there  was  a  variant  (marginal?)  version  of 
2ab,  namely:  "the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  established  on  the 
top  of  the  mountains,  and  his  mountain  be  exalted  above  the 
hills";  the  present  text  represents  a  conflation. 

[312] 


runilli  Usui   in   Isiiiilh,  ('hiii)lirs    1-10 


Wortliy  (if  note  is  it  that  the  .Micali  vcrsidii  of  tlio  Hebrew 
l>laees  the  preilieate  atljeetive  iidhhon,  "established,"  in  the 
more  natural  position,  after  the  verb,  instead  of  in  tiie  emphatic 
position  whieh  it  has  in  Isaiaii.  Whiehever  position  is  ori<;inaI, 
there  is  here  ineontrovertible  evidenee  that  in  the  eourse  of  the 
Hebrew  oral  or  written  tradition  of  these  verses,  transposition 
lias  taken  plaee.  The  shorter  of  the  two  lines  in  Isaiah  is  ex- 
eeedinjily  short  by  eomparison;  it  is  probable  that  the  extra  pro- 
noun /i(('  of  Jlieah  is  oriiriiud. 

2c  ;iii.  (I'll  Ami  all  nations  shall  Mow  into  it.  (Sal  Ami  many 
people  shall  go  ami  say. 

Sinee  "ffn,"w'-bnl'khri,  in  Hebrew  is  applied  to  the  move- 
ment of  waters  (e.fr.,  l.s.  8.G :  "the  waters  of  Sliiloh  that  ^o 
softly"),  the  parallelism  bi-tween  the  two  stielioi  need  not  be 
doubted.  The  word  w'-(hti<ru,  "they  shall  say,"  is  perhaps  to 
be  omitted;  notice  Is.  3.6,  wliere  tliere  is  no  word  to  introduce 
the  direct  discourse;  at  any  rate  it  is  parenthetical,  of  so  little 
emphasis  that  it  does  not  affect  the  (piestion  of  parallelism. 

"Many,"'  nibhhii,  in  the  second  stichos  is  an  ineffective  par- 
allil  to  "all"  in  the  first.  The  word  occurs  afjain  in  4b,  but 
without  a  parallel  in  4a.  In  tlie  corrcspondinfr  Jlieah  pa.ssago 
another  transposition  has  taken  jilacc :  "many"  occurs  in  the 
tirst  stichos  of  the  strophe,  but  has  in  the  second  stichos  two 
parallels:  "miphty,"  '<\fi)tihti  (which  is  a  parallel  to  rnbbhn 
also  in  Is.  5:{.1:J),  and  "afar  off,"  'adh  nly^iiq;  one  of  the  throe 
terms  there  is  redundant ;  aiul  the  redundancy  in  Micah  and 
defieieiicy  in  Isaiah  are  apain  ample  evidence  of  variation  in 
tradition,  of  nuirpinal  notations,  of  conflations  and  of  omissions. 
The  variants  in  Micah  show,  perhaps,  that  the  meanin;:  attached 
to  rabhim  here  was  "mijrhty,"  not  "many":  .so  also  in  Is.  5.9  and 
Amos  3.1;")  probably,  the  translation  "many  liou.ses"  for  biltthn 
rnhbim  is  not  exact;  either  "mifility  housi-s"  (like  the  Arabic 
ih'ir  riihhn)  or  "multiple  houses" — in  either  ca.se  denotiiif; 
palaces — avoids  tin-  atiticlimax  of  the  adjective.  So  here,  either 
"miplity  natirnis"  or  "mijrhty  mass  of  nations"  is  the  intention, 
if  rabbhn  is  tlie  correct  readinjj  and  in  its  proper  place. 

(313] 


258  I'artdUlkni   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  2 

3-4.  (3b)  Come  ye  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  inountaiu  of  the  Lord, 
(e)  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob:  (d)  and  he  will  teach  us  of 
his  Avays,  (e)  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths:  (f)  for  out  of  Zion 
shall  go  forth  the  law,  (g)  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem. 
(4a)  And  he  shall  judge  among  the  nations,  (b)  and  shall  re- 
buke many  people;  (e)  and  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plow- 
shares, (d)  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks:  (e)  nation  shall 
not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  (f)  neither  shall  tliey  learn  war 
any  more. 
On  "many"  in  4b,  see  above. 

Tlic  ]>ci'f('et  regularity  in  the  parallelism  of  these  six  coup- 
lets, as  well  as  of  the  preceding  (bari'liiu'  tiie  introductory  line) 

is  ll(itieeal>Ie;  likewise  the  alisellee  of  aiiv  three  line  strophe.  It 
should  lie  noticed  that  Micali  has  an  additional  verse:  --IJut  they 
sliall  sit  ev<'ry  man  under  his  vine  aud  under  his  tif;  tree;  and 
none  shall  make  them  afraid,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Ijord  of  Hosts 
hath  spoken  it."  This  verse  is  possibly  an  addition  to  the 
poem  from  another  source ;  unlike  the  rest  of  the  poem  it  refers 
specifically  to  the  lot  of  the  individuals  (suffixes  therefore  are 
in  singular  instead  of  plural)  ;  and  the  nature  of  the  parallelism 
is  different  also;  to  give  the  sentence  "and  none  shall  make 
(them)  afraid"  its  natural  position  as  the  emphatic  final  short 
sentence  of  the  poem,  it  becomes  necessary  to  include  "aud 
under  his  fig  tii'e"  in  the  preceding  line,  yielding  one  which  is 
then  excessively  long  by  comparison  with  the  rest  of  the  poem, 
and  which  contains  within  itself  two  parallel  words.  It  should 
be  noted,  however,  that  such  a  couplet,  matching  the  irregularly 
balanced  first  couplet  of  the  prophecy,  might  not  be  unexpected 
in  Isaiah ;  nor  would  the  concluding  phrase  ' '  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  hath  spoken  it,"  balancing  the  introductory 
"And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days."  be  unusual. 

o-6a.  (5)  O  house  of  Jacob,  come  ye  and  let  us  walk  in  the  light 
of  the  Lord.  (6a)  Therefore  thou  hast  forsaken  thy  people,  the 
house  of  Jacob. 

That  these  lines  stand  outside  the  previous  poem  is  no  less 
evident  than  that  they  nevertheless  refer  to  it.  Verbally,  they 
are  linked  to  it  by  the  terms  "come  and  let  us  walk"  and 
"House  of  Jacob,"  echoing  verse  3b  (lienee  also  the  first  person 

[314] 


I'arathlUn,   in   Isni.ih.  ('h,ii>l,rs   l-lt)  2.')!) 

ClI.M'TEK    U 

|)liiriil:  thiT.'  is  id  si'jiiili.'ari.-.'.  tli.ii,  in  the  I'act  lliat  tlir  Prophet 
[Isiiiali?!  Iii-n-  identities  himself  witli  tlie  jjeople).  Verses  ■"> 
and  (Ja  l»)th  eimtain  the  plirase  "House  of  .laeol)'":  it  is  evi- 
dently einpliatie,  tlien,  niarkin'r  the  eontrast  lietween  "the 
nations"  of  tlie  preeedin'r  linis  and  Israel.  Turninj?  to  Mieah, 
we  tind  there  also  an  appenda>.'e  to  the  ])oeni :  "For  all  the 
nations  walk  eaeh  in  the  name  of  its  ;_'od,  and  we  will  walk  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  onr  (iod  forever";  i.e.,  with  a  eiirinusly 
illo-jieal  twist:  "Sinee  all  other  nations  are  loyal  to  their  jrod 
(not,  as  we  should  expeet :  Sinee  even  all  the  nations  that  now 
follow  other  {rods  will  eventually  turn  to  our  tiod),  we  must 
be  loyal  to  ours."  This  appendajre  is  similar  to  that  in  Isaiah 
in  its  general  intent:  a  eompari.son  between  "the  nations"  and 
Israel,  and  for  Israel  (by  implieation  disloyal)  a  lesson  drawn 
from  the  contrast.  Both  eontain  the  phrase  "we  shall  walk"; 
•Mieah  s  "in  the  name  of  our  God"  is  Isaiah's  "in  the  light  of 
till'  Lord."  'I'he  voeative  "House  of  Jacob"  is  absent  from 
.Mieah;  but  the  emphasis  produced  by  the  repetition  of  that 
phrase  in  Isaiah  has  its  virtual  parallel  in  Mieah "s  emphatic 
pronoun  "we,"  '"tta\tif(. 

In  Isaiah  the  line  "for  (not,  as  in  A.  V.  "therefore"!  thou 
hast  foi-saken  thy  people,  the  Iloust-  of  Jacob,"  while  more 
emphatic  than  .Mieah,  contains,  like  Mieah,  a  non  stquiliir.  Its 
intention  must  have  been  to  express  the  present  disloyalty  of 
Israel;  it  is  tluM-eforc  ipiite  probable  that  "thy  people"  is  again 
an  as.sociative  lapsus  for  "thy  (Jod"  (less  likely  a  defective 
reading  of  "the  (Jod  of  thy  |)eople").  This  hardly  seems  more 
improbable  than  that  the  rrophet,  who  has  just  addressed  the 
Hou.se  of  Jacob  in  the  second  pci-son,  is  now  addressing  (Jod  in 
the  .second  jierson,  without  indicating  the  change  by  the  intro- 
iluction  of  a  new  vocative;  or  is  guilty  of  such  an  illogical 
sentence  as:  "Come,  House  of  Jacob,  let  US  be  faithful  to  (io<l, 
because  ht  has  (text:  thou  hast)  forsaken  the  House  of  Jacob," 
On  the  use  of  nalashlii  compare  Jer.  l.l.G:  "thou  hast  forsaken 
(iiataxhtii)  me,  saitli  tin-  Lord;  thou  art  gone  backward"  (ef. 
Is.  1,4).  Tiie  eopyi.st's  or  editor's  chnnge  may  luive  been  due 
lure  to  the  attempt  to  establish  n  connection  between  6a  and  6b. 
r  31.-.  1 


260  Parallel  ism   hi  Isaiah.  Chapfers  1-10 

Chapter  2 

6b-e.  (b)  Because  tliey  be  repleuislied  from  the  East,  and  (are) 
soothsayers  like  the  Pliilistines,  (c)  ami  they  please  themselves  iu 
the  children  of  strangers. 

The  structure  and  the  tone  of  the  following  poem  {6b-21) 
when  compared  with  the  iircccding  make  almost  certain  a  sep- 
aration between  the  two.  Tiie  general  subject,  however,  the 
idolatry  of  Israel,  is  suffieit'ut  explanation  for  the  editorial  jux- 
taposition. If  6a  and  6b  belonged  together  they  would  furnish 
another  example  of  two  immediately  adjoining  verses  beginning 
with  hi,  "for"' — parallel,  if  6a  is  changed  as  suggested  above: 
"for  thou  hast  deserted  thy  God;  yea  {kl)  they  (ye)  be  replen- 
ished from  the  East" — but  the  second  subordinate  to  the  tirst, 
if  the  Massoretic  text  is  retained  unchanged:  "for  thou  hast 
deserted  Israel,  for  they,"  etc.;  the  English  again  conceals  the 
reiJetition  of  hi  by  varying  the  translation. 

The  wording  of  6b  is  almost  unintelligible;  the  English 
glosses  over  some  of  the  difficulties,  which  are  due,  quite  possibly, 
to  the  fact  that  the  beginning  (and  end)  of  the  document  from 
which  it  was  edited  (skin,  parchment,  or  potsherd?)  was  in  bad 
physical  condition,  with  some  of  the  defective  portions  restored 
on  the  margins.  On  this  assumption  a  proper  introduction  to 
the  prophecy  would  be  found  by  transposing  so  as  to  precede 
6b  the  superfluous  lines  now  incorporated  in  verses  9-11  (q.  v.)  ; 
for  the  poem  seems  originally  to  have  contained  three  stanzas, 
with  introductory  (or  introductory  and  closing)  refrains  of 
almost  identical  phraseology;  the  phrases  of  these  refrains  are 
actuallj-  found  scattered  through  tlie  poem. 

The  first  couplet  (6be)  of  the  poem  proper  consists  of  a  long 
followed  by  a  shorter  line;  as  does  also  the  opening  of  each  of 
the  other  stanzas  (verses  12  and  20).  The  reading  mal'^'u,  "they 
be  replenished,"  literally  "fiill, "  in  the  difficiilt  first  line  seems 
sup]ioi-ted.  as  far  as  the  root  is  concerned,  l)y  the  parallelism: 
each  of  the  three  succeeding  strophes  of  the  stanza  begins  witli 
the  saini'  root,  but  the  jiliiral  inuubcr  of  its  subject,  though 
apparently  sui)pMrted  by  iiasphiil .  "they  jilease  themselves,"  is 
made  suspicious  by  the  singular  suffix  throughout  almost  the 
whole  of  the  remainder  of  tlie  i)oein  ;  the  plural   (7   in   ijasplqil 

[  31'3  ] 


runillilism   in   Isaiah.  Chapt-rs    l-ln  y,] 

'  ii.vrTK.K  2 
is  SI)  easily  I'xplicaltli-  as  <lilti)".Mii|>liy  Iruni  tlw  »  with  wliii-li  the 
next  word  hi-'riiis,  as  a  divisional  mark  liftwccn  tlic  vi-rscs,  or  as 
ail  t'ditorial  i-orn-rtioii  (for  still  aiiotlu-r  siifrf^fstioii  si-i'  In-low), 
as  to  1)1'  lu'-jlifrible  for  I'vidi'iico.  IiuK-od,  tlio  siilijeot  of  tla-  poem 
tliroufrhout  is  '(hlham,  "man.'"  trcati'd  as  a  siii<rular  collci-tive 
(sff  i-lcarly  tin-  parallil  lon-j;  line  in  vii-sc  21),  and  the  n-frain 
■man  liowttii  ilown";  the  Eii'rlish  translates  as  plural  tlirou!;li- 
oiit);  and  this  same  siibji-ct  lo}rii*ally  ought  to  appear  in  the 
text  as  the  subject  of  "fill"  in  the  first  stanza  also:  while  the 
objeet  (mjrht  to  be  hd-'dra;  or  'i/r^i/,  "the  land,"  or  "his  land." 
the  word  repeated  in  the  followiiifr  parallel  lines.  The  Septua- 
•rint  has  either  inserted  or  jireserved  this  objeet  in.  its  transla- 
tion; and  'ihlhdm  is  probably  to  be  seen  in  the  Hebrew  niiq- 
ilidluni,  "from  the  East"  (on  the  jjossibility  of  confusion  lic- 
tween  q  and  '  see  Is.  5.8,  where  the  Septuaj;int  apparently  read 
lit' 'fund,  "aiiythinfi."  for  milqom,  "|)laee ";  Ez.  "J'J.'J.'i.  '"slur, 
"whose."  for  qtsliir.  "conspiracy").  In  the  word  "and  sootii- 
sayei-s"  the  fi,  "and."  may  represent  the  suffixed  pronoun  of 
'tir<;i'>,  "his  land"  (the  Sei)tua}rint  has  "their  land"^  :  with  a 
repetition  of  '  from  nidl''i'i  and  of  il  (for  r).  and  with  the  m 
from  miq-qiilim  corrected  to  i-  (a  not  impossible  confusion  in 
the  oUier  al|)habet),  we  might  find  the  rest  of  that  word,  on  the 
supposition  that  'adhnrn  was  omitted  and  then  written  over  'ai\<'>, 
while  a  later  copy  resulted  in  the  present  confused  text.  But 
the  word  '(in'irim,  "soothsayers."  also  is  suspicious.  The  rest 
of  the  first  stanza  develops  two  eharfrcs  afjaiiist  Israel :  proud 
luxury  and  attendant  idolatry:  the  second  stanza  deals  with 
pride,  as  exemplified  in  things  "tall":  while  the  third  returns 
specifically  to  the  subject  "idols  of  gold  and  silver":  but 
".sootlisaying"  is  not  mentioned  again  either  in  the  jiarallel  lines 
of  stanza  1  or  in  stjuizas  2  or  :?.  The  comparison  "like  the 
Philistines,"  moreover,  is  not  especially  appn»|iriate  in  a  charge 
of  soothsaying;  it  is  appropriate,  however,  in  the  condemnation 
of  luxury  developed  in  the  rest  of  the  pmMn.  For  both  Phoenicia 
and  Philistia.  as  coastal  countries,  had  their  trade  connections 
westward,    Philistia    particularly   with    ?]gyj)t :    Philistine   cities 

I  ••«17  ] 


262  Parallelism  hi  Isaiah,  Vhapiers  1-10 

Chaptek  2 

were  centers  for  the  importatioD  of  Egyptian  jewelry  and  lux- 
uries. Perhaps,  then,  for  'on' mm  we  might  read  '"dhdmm, 
usually  "'dainties,"  but  occurring  with  the  desired  more  general 
meaning  in  II  Sam.  1.24  ("clothed  you  in  scarlet  and  other 
delights";  though  this  passage  is  suspected).  If  '"dhdium.  is 
to  be  read  here,  parallelism  would  suggest  also  for  the  difficult 
u-hh<'yaldhe,  "in  the  children,"  of  the  next  line  u-bha"dhi, 
"in  the  ornaments,"  which  occurs  with  '"dhdmin  in  the  Samuel 
passage  just  cited.  Inasmuch  as  yasplqu,  "they  please  them- 
selves," is  parallel  to  "fill."  of  the  two  possible  meanings  for 
its  root,  "be  sufficient"  (or  "plenty"),  and  "slap"  (or  "clap") 

(here,  on  the  basis  of  the  Arabic,  in  bargaining,  trading),  the 
former  ought  logically  to  suggest  itself  to  the  mind.  The  mere 
fact  that  sdphaq  in  this  sense  is  found  onlj^  in  two  other,  probably 
later,  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  (hence  supposedly  due  to 
Aramaism),  is  not  sufficient  reason  for  denying  to  Isaiah,  with 
his  rich  vocabulary,  acquaintance  with  the  word.  If  an  abso- 
luti'ly  unknown  word  stood  there,  or,  in  fact,  only  a  blank  space. 
l)arallelisni  would  supply,  as  has  the  Septuagint.  the  idea  of 
"till."  iloreover,  saphaq  in  Arabic  (with  tlir  Ik  avicr  .s'.  though 
as  in  Hebrew,  the  two  sibilants  are  confused  in  this  word),  also 
means  "to  fill"  (the  wine-cup:  probably  the  dt'vrlopment  of 
the  idea  is:  "clap,"  "clap  closed,"  then  "tilT'i;  it  should  l)e 
noted,  moreover,  that  in  the  sense  "clap,"  sdphaq  in  Hebrew  has 
a  disagreeable  connotation :  that  of  remorse,  sorrow,  mockery :  in 
neither  sense  is  the  causative  conjugation  used,  as  here.  Read 
possibly  yispoq,  "he  has  a  sufficiency  of,"  or  siphqo,  "is  his  suf- 
ficiency," or,  retaining  the  causative,  yasptqchd,  "he  fills  it" 

(i.e.,  his  land)  ;  the  couplet  would  then  read: 

A  7  millr'   'adhdm  'arQO  '"dlidnlm  l-ap-Polishtim 
uhlia-'"dln  nokhrlm  yaspXqehd. 

7-8.  (7a)  Their  land  also  is  full  of  silver  aud  gold,  (b)  neither 
(is  there  any)  end  of  their  treasures;  (c)  their  land  is  also  full  of 
horses,  (d)  neither  (is  there  any)  end  of  their  chariots;  (8a)  Their 
land  al.so  is  full  of  idols;  (b)  they  worship  the  Tvork  of  their  ovra 
hands,  (e)   that  which  their  own  fingers  have  made. 


[318 


l'(irull,lis„i   in   /.«ii.//i,  Ch.iiilirs  1-10  263 

ClIAI'TEK    2 

Till'  [uTl'ii't  rijriilarity  of  llu'  four  olausts  coiistitiitiii','  verse  7, 
with  tlie  first  elosely  parallel  to  the  third,  ami  the  seeoiiil  par- 
allel to  the  fourth — all  the  elauses  heiiif;  also  in  i  less  intimate* 
parallelisni^aml  the  preseiiee  of  a  elause  in  verse  S  (a)  elosely 
parallel  to  the  first  ami  tliinl  of  verse  7.  most  eertainly  lead 
the  uiiml  to  expeet  also  a  inemher  between  Sa  and  Sli,  parallel 
to  the  seeond  and  fourth  in  verse  7;  ami  the  disappointment 
due  to  its  ahsenee  is  heijihtonod  by  the  faet  that  perfeet  |)ar- 
allelisni  is  found  a^ain  betwi'en  the  last  two  stiehoi  of  the 
stanza.  Sb  and  8e.  That  a  stiehos  ""neither  (is  there  any)  end 
to  their  images"  (or  "their  altars")  has  fallen  otit  seems  far 
easier  of  belief  than  that  Isaiah,  without  any  eoiiceivable  reason, 
deliberately  built  up  a  strueture  perfeet  in  its  symmetry  exeept- 
iw^  for  this  one  point.  The  intent  at  |>arallelism  is  made  all 
the  more  evident  by  the  last  elause,  "that  whieh  their  own  (iiifrers 
have  made."  whieh  is  absolutely  superHuous  except  as  furnish- 
injr  a  desired  parallel — and,  perhaps,  rhyme,  since  the  rhyme 
uthdw  is  noticeable  (ef.  1.21).  If  in  the  missing  line  there 
stood  the  form  'otx'hhodifiw  (lit.  ""his  injuries,"  "jiains, "  u.sed 
because  of  the  rhyming  feminine  ending  instead  of,  and  jis  a  play 
in  true  Isaianic  fashion  cm  '"i^ablu'iu':  "his  idols"),  there  might 
be  found  here  the  source  of  Ps.  16.4:  yirbi'i  '(U^Cbhothdm,  "their 
sorrows  shall  be  multiplied  (that)  hasten  [after]  another 
[god]."  in  whieh  the  intention  is  evidently:  "their  ulols  multiply 
or  "they  nudtijily  their  idols."  "'they  hasten,"  etc.  The  word 
>(i(H"V''/>/i''^/i</ir,  "his  pillars."  if  jireferrcd,  would  contain  the 
sjime  rhyme.  It  is  true  that  if  the  last  elause  (Me)  be  omitted, 
as  a  gloss  on  Sb.  the  latter  might  be  regarded  as  the  parallel  to 
Sa ;  but  Sb  contains  nothing  that  Wf)uld  be  nuuli-  more  intelligible 
by  such  a  glos-s  as  Se ;  as  stated  above,  tin?  latter  is  clearly  a  par- 
allel. In  :n.7  there  seenjs  to  be  an  echo  of  this  passage,  and 
there  a  similar  relative  sentence  appears  in  parallelism,  and  so 
in  verse  20  of  this  chapter  (see  the  note  on  Is.  1.21).  Fiindly. 
the  faet  that  the  .second  stan/a,  the  one  which  seems  the  best 
preserved,  contains  just  ten  lines  as  will  the  first  stanza  if  the 
propos«'«l  line  be  added,  is  an  important  consideration  from  the 
standpoint  of  tin-  present  studies. 
[319  1 


264  I'arallfUsm  ,ii  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  2 

9-11.  (9a)  And  the  mean  man  boweth  down,  (b)  and  the  great 
man  humbleth  himself:  (c)  therefore  forgive  them  not.  (10a)  Enter 
into  the  rock,  (b)  and  hide  thee  in  the  dust,  (c)  for  fear  of  the 
Lord,  (d)  and  for  the  glory  of  his  majesty.  (11a)  The  lofty  looks 
of  man  shall  be  humbled,  (b)  and  the  haughtiness  of  men  shall  be 
bowed  down;    (e)  and  the  Lord  alone  be  exalted  in  that  day. 

Verse  9ab  is  a  variation  of  llab,  the  tliought  and  the  im- 
portant verbs  being  identical :  the  same  theme  and  words  occur 
again  in  verse  17 ;  while  the  phrase  "therefore  forgive  them  not" 
is  replaced  in  lie  bj-  "and  the  Lord  alone  be  exalted  in  that 
day,"  which  appeal's  also  in  verse  17.  Verse  10,  with  slight 
verbal  variations  also  occurs  twice  again  (verses  19,  21).  That 
either  verse  9  or  verse  11,  in  such  close  proximity,  is  out  of 
place  here,  is  evident  to  any  believer  in  the  possibility  of  text 
corruption.  There  is  some  doubt,  however,  whether  one  is  mis- 
placed, or  whether  it  is  superfluous;  on  the  supposition  that  the 
])orm  contains  three  stanzas,  the  former  hypothesis  seems  most 
likely. 

There  is  difficulty  still  in  verse  9  in  the  phrase  "therefore 
forgive  them  not."  Literally  it  means  "and  do  not  raise  for 
thcin,"  and  might  form  the  tiiird  (negatively  expressed)  par- 
allel to  the  couplet  "The  mean  man  boweth  down  and  the  great 
man  liiimlilith  himself,"  and  correspond  to  the  similar  thii-d 
l)ai'allcl  C-And  the  Lord  alone  be  exalted  in  that  day")  in  the 
other  n-currenccs  of  this  refrain.  But  then  at  least  we  should 
exjiect  the  wording  "and  there  shall  be  no  raising  up  for  them," 
if-'rii  s''ilh  Idhem;  for  this  sudden  change  in  the  attitude  of 
Isaiah,  in  addressing  God  and  praying  against  pardon,  is  almost 
incomprehensible.  The  phrase  is  probably,  in  origin,  the  mar- 
ginal comment  of  some  reader  (see  verse  22),  or  the  reconstruc- 
tion by  a  copyist  of  an  illegible  reading  such  as  suggested  above : 
however,  there  is  no  danger  of  doing  violence  to  tlie  spirit  of 
Isaiah  if  the  stichos  "and  the  Lord  alone  be  exalted  in  that 
day"  i.e  substituted  for  it. 

In  verse  1(1  h,r,  ■•I'nter  into."  but  lit.  "go  in."  is  rhetorically 
wi'ak.  when  viewed  either  alone  ("go  iufto]  the  rocks")  or. 
more  particularly,  with  the  parallel  hiffinii<~)i,  "hide";  in  7.19, 

[  2-20  ] 


J'linillilisiii   ill  Isiiiiih,  Chaptirs   I- 10  lU)") 

t'llAl'TKH    2 

wlitTf  /)(;'  is  iisi'il  ill  a  sniiu'wliat  similar  plirasf.  it  is  >;ivoii  more 
ililiiiitt'iu'ss  liy  its  iiuiiiriliati-  coiiini'tiini  witli  anotlicr  vi-rh,  to 
wliioli  it  is  little  more  than  an  auxiliary.  Kviii  in  jjrosf  the  miuv 
I'liipliatiu  \V(>r<l  hi\nbhi\  "liiilc, "  would  In-  used  in  such  a  I'on- 
iiiH'tion,  anil  ospt'i-ially  in  the  variations  of  the  refrain  (vei-ses 
li)  ami  21:  "<;o  into  the  eaves")  where  the  parallel  line  has  no 
verb  at  all  to  jrive  fireater  force  to  ";;o. "  For  a  prose  example, 
coiiipari-  Shalibath  liOa :  h'nju  nixba'in  bam-m'Tird,  "they  hid 
themselves  in  the  cave'";  more  si};nificant  is  Rev.  (5.15,  which, 
(piotiii'T  Isiiiah  a|)proxinujtely.  choo.ses  "hide,"  not  "enter"; 
hut  if  ho'  does  represent  a  mutilated  h>'\ribhi".  in  verse  10.  it 
is  nrees.sary  to  supjiose  editorial  revision  in  the  two  other  occur- 
rences of  the  root,  in  the  repetition  of  the  refrain.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  bo'  is  orifriual.  it  nuiy  have  been  elio.sen  because  of  its 
extreme  brevity  (and  of  its  assonance  with  biK^-cilr),  and  the 
force  of  the  |)hrase  would  be  best  reproduced  by  imiitt ill'.,'  the 
verb,  and  translatinj;  simply  as  an  exclamation:  ■"Into  tlie 
rocks  I '  ■ 

The  parallelism  between  pny^ndh.  "fear."  and  lnhllnlr, 
■■yrlory,"  in  verses  11.  1!),  'Jl  is  worthy  of  notice  also;  the  latter 
word  po.s-sibly  replaced  in  the  course  of  tradition  or  of  edition 
a  better  parallel,  \rnliitli,  "terror";  otherwise  hihlhar  means 
here  not  jrlory,  but  rather  the  result  of  (iod's  ^[lory :  nnui's  rev- 
erence and  awe  (see  the  note  on  siln'i,  !..">).  ,  The  parallelism 
bitween  the  simple  preposition  in  mi'h"(Huir  and  the  compound 
iiiip-p'nr  would  >rive  tft  the  latter  its  ordinary  mcaniiifr  after 
v.rbs  of  rteeintr  ("from  [before]."  with  the  addrd  idea  of 
canseK  and  iirevciit  the  more  literal  translation  "from  the  face 
of"  (i.e.,  "from  tlie  terrible  countenance  of,"  as  the  ]ia.s.safre  is 
sometimes  translated).  The  phra.se  "lofty  looks"  (lit.  "eyes  of 
loffines-s")  in  verse  11  apparently  represents  a  conflation  of 
varyinp  forms  in  which  this  refrain  was  handed  down;  the  word 
"eyes"  here  nutkes  the  line  lon>»,  has  no  parallel  in  the  other 
half  of  the  couplet,  is  not  found  in  verse  9  or  in  verse  17,  and 
is  folli>wed  by  a  sinjjular  instead  of  the  necessary  plural  predi- 
cate.     Anotlier  version  of  the  refrain  is  found  (possibly  out  of 

[  •''21  1 


ClIAPTEK    2 

place),  ill  5.15; 

there 

struction,  but 

'a,lh<h 

of  proper  leii^t 

h:  ir- 

I'arallflisii)   In  Isaiah.  Chapfns  1-10 


"eyes"  oeeiirs  in  correct  grammatical  con- 
(,  "man,"  i.s  omitted,  so  that  the  line  is 
"//("  g'hhOhhn  tishpalnd. 
Two  strophes  of  the  three  which  compose  the  refrain  are  in 
characteristic  form  again:  each  with  two  stichoi  in  close  par- 
allelism, and  a  third  .stichos  in  more  distant  parallelism  to  either 
and  to  both  (cf.  1.2)  ;  the  double  occurrence  of  the  form  makes 
for  perfect  symmetry,  which  is  further  reenforced  by  the  recur- 
rence of  the  refrain  as  a  whole. 

12-1  <).   (12a)  For  the  day  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  (shall  be)  upon 
every  (one  that  is)  proud  and  lofty,   (b)   and  upon  every  (one  that 
is)  lifted  up,  and  he  shall  be  brought  low;    (13a)   And  upon  all  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon,    (that  are)    high   and  lifted  up,    (b)    and  upon 
all  the  oaks  of  Bashan,  (14a)  And  upon  all  the  high  mountains,  (b) 
and  upon  all  the  hills   (that  are)   lifted  up,    (15a)   And  upon  every 
high  tower,   (b)    and  upon  every  fenced  wall,    (16a)    And  upon  all 
the  ship.s  of  Tarshish,   (b)   and  upon  all  pleasant  pictures. 
On  the  structure  of  the  stanza,  ten  lines,  the  first  one  long, 
see   6b   above.       Tlie   absolute   regularity   in   the   recurrence   of 
the  phrase  "u|)oii  all"   (ten  times),  is  conclusive  evidence  that 
Isaiah  did  iiot  avoid  synimrti-y  ;  the  literal  repetition  is  effective 
just  because  the  woi'ds  are  used  in  perfect  parallelism,  each  time 
with  identically  the  same  meaning  and  in  the  same  syntactic 
construction ;  it  must  be  distinguished  from  that  sort  of  repe- 
tition that  was  di.seussed  above  in  connection  with  1.6  and  7. 

The  jiarallelism  of  the  stanza  as  a  whole,  however,  is  broken 
in  12b  liy  the  antonymistic  phrase  (word)  "and  he  shall  be 
lirouglit  low,"  in-shdfn.  or,  disn'ganliiig  ilassuretic  vowels, 
"and  (upon  I'vcry  one  that  is  i  low."  a-i-slidfdl:  Xhv  S.'ptua- 
gint  read  (or  corrected  )  the  whole  stichos  tliiis:  •'and  upon 
everyone  that  is  jiroud  and  li;iugiity."  iilsi/dhh  ir' -iiissd'.  The 
sli|)  ill  the  ^lassoretic  text,  another  examjile  of  substituting  for 
a  word  thi'  antonym  (cf.  above),  was  probably  due  to  the  pres- 
ciici'  of  till'  ofteiidiiig  woi-d  in  verse  11.  Another  probable  error 
is  the  insertion  in  verse  13  of  the  phrase  "high  and  lifted  up," 
lnhrdaihii  a-'  liaii-iiissd'hn,  which  repeats  the  adjectives  distributed 
between  the  two  halves  of  verse  14,  but  places  them  together,  so 

[322] 


I'linilhlism   in   Isiitoh.  Chiipti  rs   1-10 


us  to  iiii)(lil_\-  (iiic  word  "icilars"  l)y  two  adject ivi>s,  leaviiif:  tlie 
piiralltl  "oaks'"  witliout  any.  Tlie  adji'ctivi's  arc  rcdiiiidaiit 
from  tilt"  stand-point  of  lim*  Icnfrth;  and  also  from  that  of 
thonglit :  lii'caiist'  in  tliis  vci-sc  niodifyingr  adji'otivfs  liavi-  already 
Ix'oii  replaced  l)y  modifying  proper  novins:  "cedars  of  licbanon" 
and  "oaks  of  Baslian."  Evidently  a  varyin<j  tradition  of  this 
vci-so  read  "ccdai-s  lii-rli  and  oaks  lifted  up";  the  variant  was 
indicated  simply  by  writing  the  words  "high  and  lifted  up"  in 
the  margin :  and  was  then  inserted  into  the  middle  of  the  phrase 
liy  a  later  copyist  (st-e  on  1.14),  who.  jjcrhaps,  placed  the  two 
adjectives  together  because  cedars  are  usually  characterized  as 
"high"  while  oaks  are  rather  "liroad"  and  "sturdy."  But 
the  oak  might  also  well  be  a  symbol  of  height.  In  verse  15,  it 
is  true,  "wall"  also  is  characterized  as  strong  ("fenced,"  i.e., 
"fortified");  but  again  the  fact  that  Isaiah  in  his  introduction 
to  his  list  specifically  speaks  of  all  things  "high  and  tall";  that 
down  to  this  point  all  objects  come  within  that  category,  as  do 
"ships  of  Tai-shish"  in  the  next  vci-sc;  but  more  particularly 
that  in  this  vei-se  the  immediate  parallel  is  "high  towci-s,"  makes 
it  far  more  likely  that  the  familiar  phrase  "fortified  wall"  (cf. 
Ocut.  2S.;'J2;  Jcr.  1.").20)  has  by  error  replaced  an  original  "high 
wall."  x''i»i(7  uisf/ilbhd,  a  phrase  fouiul  in  Is.  30.1.3  and  contain- 
ing a  .synonym  for  "high"  that  has  not  yet  api»cared  among  the 
many  used  in  this  pas.sagc. 

More  troublesome  is  the  concluding  line  of  the  stanza,  "and 
all  pleasant  pictures."  kol-  x'khinlh  ha-  xotHla,  parallel  to  "all 
the  ships  of  Tarshish,"  and  in  which  .t'khjoth,  "pictures."  is  a 
oT-a^  Xeyoufvoi'.  If  the  phrase  were  in  if.self  one  which  justi- 
fied the  breaking  of  the  .series  of  "high"  (at  least  "big"  and 
"sturdy")  jiaralhls — e.g..  if  it  were  particularly  i-mphatic.  or 
expressed  clearly  a  summary  ("objects"  instead  of  "|>ietures") 
— there  might  be  ren.son  for  believing  it  (-orreet  Ikmv  ;  but  the 
summary  has  beiii  indicate<l  at  the  beginning;  and  "pleasant" 
("desirable")  is  by  no  m>  ans  a  term  which  might  in  a  summary 
be  njiplied  to  the  objects  here  eniimerati'd.  The  Siptuagint 
reads:  "every  aspect   (  Ot'av  \  of  ships  of  beauty";  the  insertion 


[  .12.1 


268  I'ltrallclism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  2 

of  "ships"  may  liave  b^eu  due  to  a  very  unusual  attempt  to 
establish  the  missing  parallelism,  or  to  the  faet  that  a  word  for 
"ships'"  really  stood  in  the  margiu.  The  Targum  Jonathan 
paraphrases  the  whole  couph't  tlius:  ■'upou  those  who  live  in 
the  islands  of  the  sea  and  wIki  dwell  in  beautiful  palaees," 
lirdnydthd  shapinrdn;  Jewish  commentators  translate:  "palaees 
paved  with  precious  stones''  (because  of  Lev.  26.1,  where  occurs 
the  phrase  "image  of  stone,"  lit.  "stone  of  picture"  [maskith, 
from  the  same  root  as  s^kiyoth]) — all  of  which  indicates  only 
the  difficulty  in  accepting  the  illogical  line  as  it  stands.  Failing 
better  explanation,  recourse  might  again  be  had  to  the  theory 
of  misplaced  lines.  With  the  meaning  "precious  images" 
accepted  on  the  basis  of  those  passages  in  which  maskith  occurs 
(e.g.,  Prov.  25.11,  "silver  carved  images";  more  particularly, 
referring  to  idolatrous  worship.  Num.  33.52;  Lev.  26.1;  Ezek. 
8.12)  and  those  in  which  x^nidd  and  other  words  from  the  same 
root  are  found  (e.g.,  Hos.  13.15:  km  xcmdd)  the  line  belongs 
naturally  in  the  defective  and  mutilated  third  stanza.  At  tlie 
same  time  it  is  necessary  to  assume  another  line  in  its  place 
here,  one  referring  also  to  ships,  parallel  to  "ships  of  Tarshish." 
"Tarshisli,"  like  "Lebanon"  and  "Bashan"  above,  takes  the 
place  of  a  common  adjective,  as  it  does  in  all  the  eases  in  which 
the  phrase  "ships  of  Tarshi-sh"  is  used:  "able  to  go  to  Tarshi.sh, 
to  foi'cign  .shores,"  a  "large  foreigner."  T^nfortunately,  un 
exactly  parallel  phrase  is  to  be  found  in  Isaiah:  but  in  :i:i.'_M 
occurs  ci  'addir,  "majestic  ship,"  as  the  opposite  of  "■row-boat." 
Cl  itself  is  apparently  a  foreign  (Egyptian)  word,  hence  its 
connotation  might  again  be  "foreign  ship";  and  if  this  phrase 
be  an  acceptable  emendation  here,  compare  in  verse  6  of  this 
chapter  the  parallelism  between  the  proper  name  "Philistines" 
and  the  common  noun  "strangers." 

17.    (a)   And  tlip  loftiuoss  of  m.aii  sliall  lie  l)o\vc(l  .lown,   (],)   aii.l 

the   haughtiness   of   man    he   made   low    (c)    ami    tlie    Lord   alone    lie 

exalted  on  that  day. 

See  the  note  on  verses  9-11  above.      Possibly  the  rest  of  tlie 

refrain  sliould  be  repeated  at  the  end  of  stanza  2.  from  the  end 

of  stanza  1  (verse  10). 

[  324  ] 


I'liralhlism   i„  Lsuiah,  Chupt.rs   l-W  269 

C'lIAITEK    2 

IS   U».    (IS)    All.)   thr   i.lols  ho  simll   iittorlv  iiholisli.      (litiil    Aii.l 
tlu-y  xliiill  Ko  into  tin-  iiivi-a  of  tlic  ro.ks   (l>)    ami   into  tlio  oiivos  of 
the  rartli. 
On  vi-rsf  IS  sfc  In-low.  tin-  not.-  to  virsf  '20:  on  19,  see  verses 
y-ll   al.ove. 

L'O.  {n)  On  that  .lay  a  man  shall  I'ast  his  idols  of  silver,  (b)  and 
his  itlols  of  gol.I,  (i-)  whii-li  they  made  eai-h  one  lor  hiniself  to  wor- 
ship, (d)  to  the  moles  aud  to  the  bats. 
The  loiijr  first  line  here,  with  a  parallel  ('20h)  only  lo  the 
object,  has  the  appearanee  of  bein}?  the  first  line  of  a  stanza 
parallel  to  the  other  two  stanzas.  The  |)hr!uses  "his  idols  of 
silver"  and  '"his  idols  of  frold,'"  and  "whieh  they  made  (eaeh 
one)  for  hini.self  to  worshij)"  eeho  the  phrases  of  the  first  stan/a 
(verses  (>-S)  ;  the  parallelism  (as  against  siiborilination)  of  the 
relative  elanse  here  is  fi.\eil  by  2.8,  where  <rrammatieally  it  ean- 
not  be  subordinate;  po.ssibly  for  'dsi'i,  "thej-  made,"  tiie  siiijjular 
should  be  read,  or  the  siibjeet  "hands"  be  inserted  as  in  verse  8. 
Such  an  iehoin<;  of  words,  reealliiifr  here,  along  with  the  picture 
of  man's  contempt  for  his  treasures,  the  previous  picture  of  iiis 
worship  of  fhein.  woidd  be  an  effective  piece  of  Isaianic  sarcasm 
— particularly  if  the  picture  here  were  as  complete  in  its  detailed 
enumeration  as  is  stanza  1  (cf.  also  3.1SIT.).  What  the  missing 
phra.ses  might  have  been  can  only  be  conjectured ;  verse  16b, 
it  was  suggested  above,  was  probably  one  of  them :  s'khiolh 
hii-x' mihi,  "precious  images."  Still  anotiier,  in  a  corrupt  form, 
perhaps,  appears  now  as  verse  18:  "his  idols  he  shall  utterly 
abolish."  The  word  translated  "abolish,"  (/(/^''/op/i,  is  suspicious; 
it  occurs  fre<|uently  in  this  conjugation,  but  as  an  intransitive, 
and  only  with  such  subjects  as  wind,  flood,  days,  rain,  heavens 
(and  once,  (i<h1) — always,  then,  in  reference  to  what  does  not 
have  definite  form  and  where  the  root  meaning  "change"  or 
"pa.s.s  on"  can  still  be  felt;  the  causative  (active)  conjugation 
of  the  verb  prest*rves  this  root  idea  even  more  clearly  ("to 
change  the  fi>rm  of  condition,"  or  "renew  a  former  state"). 
On  the  supposition  that  the  stichos,  written  in  the  margin,  was 
very  illegible  and  was  "edited"  to  make  a  eomplite  proposition 
beeati.se  of  the  mistake  in  the  place  of  ins<>rtion,  we  might  read 

[  325  ) 


270  Parallel  ism  h,  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  2 

for  !jax"l'''ph  a  parallel  lo  Jia-xCDidd,  e.g.,  ha-xcphc(;  ("desire," 
supposing  a  change  of  <;  to  I,  and  its  transposition ;  and  the  sign 
of  the  imperfect  instead  of  the  article).  In  kalU,  "entirely" 
(hiTc  the  mily  (iccurrein'e  (if  the  word  as  an  adverb)  there  might 
be  i'<„uid  k'U:  the  phrase  /,'7(  y /»,7,7  is  found  in  Nah.  2.10;  Hos. 
13.15:  "vessels  of  desire"  (A.  V.  "pleasant  vessels")  ;  Jer.  22.28  : 
kHi  en  xepheg  bo,  "vessels  wherein  is  no  pleasure";  particularly 
I  Sam.  6.8  and  15,  k<'le  haz-zdhdhh,  "jewels  of  gold,"  referring 
to  the  "images"  of  mice  in  verse  4.  With  hil-''li'lhi>  k'lf  ha- 
xcpheg  in  apposition  to  ver.se  20,  the  thought  would  run:  '•they 
shall  east  away  their  idols  of  silver,  and  their  idols  of  gold — the 
gods  they  have  made  with  their  finger.s — their  precious  thing- 
gods."  Hd-''lilJiii.  however,  might  be  a  mere  gloss,  or  might 
reiDresent  another  synonym  hap-  pisllhn.  "idols,"  or  ■"images." 

The  phrase  "to  the  moles  and  the  bats"  in  the  ]Massoretic 
test  and  the  English  is  made  the  indirect  object  of  "cast,"  from 
which  it  is  removed  by  quite  a  lengthy  clause,  however.  The 
scene  pictured  by  this  connection  is  liardlj'  a  logical  one.  It 
seems  most  likely  that  the  Prophet  pictured  the  idolators  casting 
away  their  idols  when  the  terror  comes  upon  them,  and  fleeing 
from  them — not  eari'ving  Ihem  along  with  them  to  the  caves  and 
the  "holes  in  the  ground,"  as  would  seem  to  be  necessary  if 
they  cast  them  to  the  moles  and  the  bats;  for  surely  he  did  not 
mean  to  imply  that  moles  and  bats  were  found  about  the  homes 
of  the  wealthy.  At  best,  if  the  connection  is  correct,  the  trans- 
lation should  111'  "east  them  away  for  the  moles  and  the  bats," 
which,  supposedly,  are  to  take  jiossession  of  the  palaces  and 
estates  attei'  these  jiave  ialleii  into  ruins.  Targum,  Peshitta 
and  Septuagint  connect  differently:  "the  idols  which  they  make, 
in  order  to  bow  down  to  vanities  (A.  V.  'moles')  and  bats"; 
i.e..  the  idols  themselves  are  the  "vanities  and  bats."  Still 
another  iiite7-])ivtation  would  be  possible:  "they  shall  cast  aside 
their  golden  idols,  in  order  to  bow  down  to  moles  and  bats": 
i.(>.,  to  bend  before  them  as  they  crawl  into  the  caves — which 
would  be  another  example  of  Isaiah's  grim  humor. 

None   of  these   interpretations,   however,   fulfils   the   rc(iuir(>- 

[82(i] 


I'aiuilhlisiii   ill   IsiiNih,  Chiiiiln-s    l-lo  'JTl 

(lIM'TKIt    - 

in.nts  lit"  the  t  \  p.'  i.l"  parallelism  iiscil  in  tlic  otlicr  staii/.as.  The 
vi'i'l)  ••(•asf  away"  dms  luit  iircessariiy  liavc  an  indirect  object; 
ff.  Ezek.  20.7  :  "Tlien  said  I  unto  them,  Cast  ye  away  (/i<;.>7./i7.7i»  ) 
every  man  the  ahoininations  of  his  eyes,  and  defile  not  yourself 
witli  the  iilols  of  E<rypt";  anil  it  is  perhai)s  significant  that 
Is.  ;il.T,  which  seems  to  quote  our  present  verse,  paraphrases 
simply:  "On  that  day  every  man  shall  despise  {ijiiii'iis:  A.  \'. 
"cast  away")  his  idols  of  silver  and  jrold  wliieh  your  own  iiands 
have  made  unto  you  (for)  a  sin."  Perhaps,  then,  the  jircpo- 
sition  "to,"  /',  in  Uixpi'ir  pi' roth  w'hi-'"talUfhn  is  at  fault: 
notice  the  five  prepositions  in  succession  "to  (for)  him.self  to 
woi-ship.  to  the  moles  and  to  the  hats,  to  jjo"  of  which  only  two 
are  parallel.  If  for  the  preposition  in  the  ea.se  of  the  two  nouns 
there  stood  orijrinally  the  article  hii,  these  words  niijjrht  be  addi- 
tional parallels,  and  refer  to  carved  amidets  in  animal  form. 
So  at  a  later  epoch  Ezekiel  in  his  vision  (Ezek.  8.10)  pictures  the 
eldei-s  of  Israel  otTerin<r  ineen.se  to  "ereepinj;  thinprs  and  beasts, 
abominations  [sluqri;]  "  (anion?  which  is  included  the  bat  in 
Lev.  7.21),  and  all  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel,  "every  man 
in  the  chambei-s  of  his  imafrery"  {iiiaskliho,  the  word  to  which 
n  ference  was  nuule  abovi-  in  connection  with  .I'khii'ilh);  in 
Isaiah,  the  reference  woidd  be  to  the  oriuuncnt  talismans  brou'riit 
from  Efrypt  by  way  of  Philistia.  It  may  even  be  possible  that 
\" par pi'i roth,  which  the  JIassorites  did  not  reco<»nize,  since  they 
divided  it  into  two  words,  and  which  is  a  ar-af  Xeyofjifvov  found 
nowhere  in  the  Semitie  langruages  (thoufrh  its  root,  "to  dijr." 
supports  the  \'ul;»ate  "mole")  is  the  Ef^yptian  khi pni  or  khi pi  r- 
prr.  "beetle"  and  "scarab":  and  some  of  the  .scarabs  with  out- 
stretched win(r>  mifrlit  easily  have  been  mistaken  for  figures  of 
bats.  The  detailed  enumeration  still  lacks  two  lines  even  if  this 
hypothesis  is  correct,  or  one.  if  the  (|uadriliteral  '"lnlli'phhii  aiul 
the  reduplicated  form  \''p(irpi'iroth  mifrht  be  eonsidered  as  sep- 
arate stichoi  (so  also,  passibly  rommnti  in  2.2  if  hiinoth  be  not 
in.serted,  and  ' "qnliiitUoth  in  Judp's  5.6).  It  is  hardly  po.ssible 
to  find  tracts  of  the  reuuiininn  mi.ssinp  lines  below,  in  the  super- 
fluous verse  22. 

[  327  1 


272  I'anillrlisin   in  Isaiah,  Chaptrr.'i  1-10 

Chapter  2 

21.    (a)    To   go    into   tlie   fk^t'ts   of   the    rocks,    (b)    and    into    the 
tops  of  the  ragged  rocks,  (c)  for  fear  of  the  Lord,  (d)  and  for  the 
glory  of  his  majesty,  (e)  when  he  arises  to  shake  terribly  the  earth. 
Sec  above  on  verse  10.     In  "to  go,"  Id-bho,  the  preposition 
iui,L;lit  lie  temporal  (cf.  Is.  7.1"),  b-dha' to,  "when  he  knoweth")  : 
"wlicii  he  enters,"  "as  he  enters. ""      It  is  more  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  whole  verse  belongs  at  the  beginning  of  the  stanza, 
in  the  imperative  or  infinitive  absolute,  as  in  verse  9. 

•22.    (a)    Cease  ye  from  man,  wliose  breatli   is   in  his   nostrils,  for 
wherein  is  he  to  be  accounted  of  ? 

This  verse  is  (pute  distinet  in  tone  from  the  rest  of  the 
chapter,  though  verbal  eonnection  is  e.stablished  by  hd-Tulhi'im, 
"man";  but  "man"  who  is  rebuked  throughout  the  three 
stanzas  is  presumably  Israel  as  a  whole,  including  those  to  whom 
the  prophecy  is  delivered  or  addressed,  while  here  the  audience 
is  addressed  as  though  standing  apart  from  "man"  who  is  re- 
buked; the  absence  of  any  vocative  also  is  noticeable. 

The  term  "cease  from"  is  obscure.  It  would  nornuilly  mea)i 
"cease  paying  attention  tn,"  "do  not  trouble"  or,  less  fre- 
quenlly,  "desert"  ( Ezek.  2.7:  "refuse  Ic  hear").  With  the  first 
meaning  the  vei'se  would  sound  rather  like  the  remark  of  a 
reader,  wearied  with  the  contemplation  of  man"s  perversity; 
and  in  .such  an  interpretation  might  be  compared  with  the 
interjected  remark  in  verse  9,  "do  not  forgive  them."  If  the 
meaning  is  "desert,"  the  implication  woulil  supposedly  bi' :  do 
not  trust  (any  longer)  in  man  (but  tuiii  to  (iod).  In  (>ither 
case  theri'  is  felt  the  aliS(^nce  of  a  parallel  verb  defining  "cease 
frum"  m.ov  ch'arly. 

The  siMMind  member  of  the  verse:  •'wlldse  breath  is  in  his 
uiistrils."  is  in  the  English  given  an  emphasis  which  it  has  not 
in  the  Hebrew,  which  is:  "in  whose  nostril  is  breath"  or  "a 
breath."  This  relative  clause  is  again  of  interest  from  the  stand- 
point of  parallelism:  if  it  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  relative 
clause  in  verse  20,  i.e.,  parallel,  the  sense  is:  "Cease  from  num. 
the  creature  who  is  characterized  by  having  a  bi-eath  in  his 
nostrils";  but  if  it   is  subordinate,  the  sense  is:  "Cease  from 

[328] 


ranilhlism   in   hiiiiih.  ClKipt, 


that  mail  in  wliosf  nostrils  is  hnalli,"  i.r.,  Iroiii  man  whn  is 
alive,  nr  while  he  has  lilV  (i-f.  .loli  L*7.;{,  "as  lon^'  as  my  Itivatli 
is  ill  me.  and  tho  spirit  of  CJod  is  in  my  nostrils:  i.e.,  '"as  loii^' 
as  I  live').  It  is  the  former  that  is  iiiteiiiled  here,  of  eonrse, 
but  in  either  ease  the  emphasis  is  ii|)on  man  as  a  liriinj  bein<:^: 
ef.  (Jen.  7.22:  '"all  ill  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath  of  life" — 
every  liviiifr  thiiijr.  To  {rive  the  words  any  point  at  all  here,  it 
is  neeis.sary  to  plaee  upon  them  an  emphasis  and  iniplieatinii 
wliieh  they  do  not  elearly  express;  either:  "whose  breath  is  in 
his  nostril"  (unti  lasihi  p<utsi s  inra;/).  or  "who  lias  in  his  nostrils 
onhi  a  breath";  or.  "whose  breath  mis  pl4irc(I  iu  his  iio.stril  bi) 
God,  who  can  thrnftrn  takt  it  (iinn/."  Perhaps  if  the  last  line 
also  were  eonsideivd  a  parallel:  "who  is  of  little  aeeonnt,"  tiie 
idi'a  of  the  traiisitoriness  of  man's  life  mi^ht  be  I'lnphasized. 
But  if  it  was  I.saiah  who  was  tryinjr  to  express  this  tlioufjrlit, 
surely  lie  would  have  eho.sen  words  as  elear  as  those  in  Job  34.14: 
"if  lie  (Ciod)  jrather  unto  himself  his  spirit  nud  his  breath,  all 
flesh  dies":  or  in  P.s.  104.2!):  "Thou  take.st  away  their  breath, 
they  die."  Furthemiore,  even  frraiitin^'  the  implication  of  the 
words,  man's  mortality,  the  whole  vei-se  is  still  illo-rieal  here. 
Instead  of  "Trust  not  iu  man,  who  is  mortal,"  the  e<iiitext  de- 
mands: "Cease  from  man,  who  is  idolatrous  and  vain."  If 
Isaianie  (ajraiiist  wliieli  the  style  ar^rues)  the  verse  was  plaeed 
here  by  the  eoiiipiler  possibly  beeause  he  tlioufrht  it  formed  a 
transition  to  the  next  ehapter.  where,  however,  the  siibjeet  ajrain 
is  !H)t  man's  mortal  nature,  but  his  transgression  and  |uiiiish- 
ment.     The  Septiiairiiit  omits  the  verse. 

riiAi'TKK  ;$ 

1-3.  (In)  For  bpholil,  tlio  Lonl,  the  Lonl  of  Hosts,  .lotli  tnko 
iiwny  from  Jcni.saU'm  nml  from  Jmlali  tlio  .st.iy  ami  tlie  .staff,  (li) 
tlic  whole  sta.v  of  breml,  (r)  nml  the  whole  stay  of  wnter.  (2a) 
The  mighty  man  nnd  the  man  of  wur,  (b)  the  jml(;e  ami  the  prophet 
(r)  ami  the  prudent  nml  the  nnrient.  (.la)  The  enptnin  of  fifty  nml 
the  honorable  mnn,  (b)  nml  the  eoiin!u>llor  ami  the  eiiiiiiinK  artificer, 
(r)  auil  the  elo<|Uent  orator. 
Ill  form  and  development  of  theme  this  stniiza  is,  on  tlw> 
whole,  like  the  middle  staii/n  of  the  last  propheey :  a  long  first 

[  329  J 


274  Parallel  ism   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  3 

stiehos  (la),  with  the  followiug  short  stichoi  parallel  to  its  last 
syntactic  member;  a  first  couplet  or  strophe  statiug  the  theme 
in  general  terms,  while  the  remainder  elaborates  it  is  in  a  specific, 
exhaustive  enumeration.  But  in  some  respects  as  the  text 
stands,  the  general  form  is  obscured.  In  the  first  place,  the 
opening  line  is  over-long:  though  "Jerusalem""  and  "Judah," 
"stay""  and  "staft"  arc  clearly  two  pairs  of  parallel  terms 
(cf.  verse  8)  they  are  not  distributed  in  parallel  stichoi;  but 
with  proper  distribution  ten  stichoi  result.  Secondly,  the  coup- 
let "whole  stay  of  bread  and  whole  stay  of  water,"  repeating 
one  of  the  words  used  in  the  preceding  line,  adds  qualifying 
genitives  ("bread  and  water")  clearly  contradicting  the  quali- 
fying appositives  in  the  following  stichoi,  whose  implication  is 
that  "staff  and  stay'"  are  the  supports  of  the  government,  not 
the  supports  of  liuman  life.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  noticed 
that  in  the  second  portion  of  this  chapter  there  is  a  combination 
of  the  two  themes  of  want  and  anarchy  (cf.  also  4.1).  It  is  quite 
possible,  then,  that  these  two  lines  have  replaced  another  couplet 
which  was  more  appropriate  to  the  theme  of  "government," 
while  they  themselves  belong  to  another  stanza  which,  in  a  series 
of  phrases  repeating  the  framework  of  "every  stay  of  bread  and 
every  stay  of  water'"  (cf.  the  framework  of  2.12ff.),  developed 
the  jii'tdiction  of  famine,  thirst,  dearth  of  clothing,  and  similar 
misfortunrs. 

Thirdly,  the  detailed  enumeration  of  the  members  of  the 
official  class  is  not  in  all  respects  logically  arranged  at  present ; 
the  English,  in  translating  qfiseni  (lit.  "diviner")  as  "prudent," 
conceals  the  disorder.  By  transposing  the  terms  yo'eq,  "coun- 
sellor."" now  in  •'>!),  ami  ejdsan,  "diviner,"  now  in  2c,  logical 
order  is  reestablished  in  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  enumera- 
tion: inr  llie  last  jiair  of  ti'rms  also  apparently  refers  to  species 
of  diviners,  instead  of  to  "the  cunning  artificer  and  the  eloquent 
orator"  as  the  versions  translate.  Another  difficulty  in  the  text 
lies  in  the  fact  that  "captain  of  fifty,"  sar  x"niishshhn,  as  a  mili- 
tary tenn  stands  between  two  terms  referring  to  civil  life: 
zdqf)}  il-irsil'  phdnhii.  "the  ancient,"  and  "the  honoralile"   (cf. 

[330] 


I'tirnllilisii)   ill   Isiiiiili,  Cliiipli  rs    l-lii 


Is.  !t.l4,  a  possilili-  jjloss,  Imt  iicviTllifli'ss  slmwiiiy:  tin-  natural 
Di-tlcr  of  tlu-so  tfi-ms).  "(."aptaiii  of  lifty"  is,  of  course,  a  i-om- 
1111)11  term;  but  the  suspii-ioii  aritusoil  hy  its  unusual  position 
Ihmv  justifii's  tin-  (pu'stion  why  a  military  title  denotinfr  this 
suliorilinate  rank  was  sinsrlctl  out,  rather  than  one  of  more  jjen- 
eral  api)lieation  or  at  least  referrinj:  to  liitjher  rank  {siir  (,•«/)(]', 
siir  \(i!iil.  sar  'ilif,  sar  mc'i'i,  etc.)  ;  it  is  as  thoajjih  one  should 
group  to-rether  in  a  fienoral  ilenuneiation  "soldiers,  judges,  sena- 
toi-s.  magnates  and  suheaptains."  Possibly,  then,  x"niijihsh'iin 
was  a  misreading  of  some  form  of  tiie  root  iifixiisli,  e.g.,  in'mtxi'sh, 
or  iiddhi'"'  mlxilsh  or  h'xJ.v/mhi,  "skilleil  in  divination,"  in- 
tended to  be  in.serted  together  with  qi'mi'in  alongside  of  ,x"A7uj»ii 
X'Tilshim  (read  singular?)  and  n'bhoii  hixiixh.  This  as.sumption 
woidd  leave  xtir,  "noble,"  "ruler."  or  "eliief,"  in  its  usual  gen- 
eral signifieation,  and  in  a  natural  position  (ef.  verse  14:  "the 
elders  and  prinees  of  his  people").  Jlorcover,  there  would 
then  be  ten  stiehoi  again  (ineluding  Ibe  or  two  others  in  plaee 
thereof). 

4.  (a  I  Aii.l  I  will  Kivo  i-liililrou  |to  be)  tlioir  priiu'cs  (1.)  nii<] 
ImiIws  shall  rule  over  tlicm. 
For  the  English  "babe.s,"  and  the  Septuagint  "nioekers  ' 
(possibly  reading  the  root  lii'iujh:  so  also  in  66.4).  the  ^la.sso- 
retie  te.xt  has  lii'"luniii,  which  might  come  from  any  one  of  four 
ditTerent  roots  with  identical  consonants  and  denoting  respec- 
tively "act  severely,"  "insert."  "glean,"  and  (a  denominative 
verb)  "play  the  child."  To  the  hearer,  then,  the  word  did  not 
necis.sarily  by  it.self  convey  clearly  and  singly  any  one  of  these 
ideas;  it  is  absolutely  certain,  however,  tliat  here  because  of  the 
liarallelism  it  must  at  least  have  included  the  last  named  (by 
paronomasia,  if  "wantoiniess"  is  the  primary  intention);  and 
this  i.s  further  evidenced  by  :{.12,  where  Wnlil  is  clearly  a 
denominative  from  "child";  evidently  the  intention  in  the  two 
pa.ssages  is  identical.  Ta'"li'inm  is  in  form  an  infinitve  or 
abstract:  it  is  here  parallel  to  a  concrete;  it  occurs  again  only 
in  66.4.  as  an  antithesis  to  another  abstract  shikktii;hn ;  but  both 
are  there  used  in  place  of  concretes:  "their  soul  delighteth  in 

[  331  I 


276  I'aridhUsm   in  Isidah.  Chapters  1-10 

ciiAi-TEH  :-; 

their  abominations  [used  regularly  for  "idols""]  ;  I  also  will 
choose  their  wantonness"  (A.  V.  "delusions";  i.e.,  that  which 
or  those  who  will  delude  them,  or  deal  cruelly  with  them)  ;  it  is 
not  impossible,  indeed,  that  despite  its  form  the  word  may  have 
had  a  concrete  signification :  compare  the  development  of 
iahnldh.  "teaching,"'  then  "disciple." 

5-1).  (5a)  Aud  the  people  sliall  be  oppressed,  every  one  by  anotlier, 
(b)  and  every  one  by  his  neighbor;  (c)  the  child  shall  behave  him- 
self proudly  against  the  ancient,  (d)  and  the  base  against  the  honor- 
able; (6a)  when  a  man  shall  take  hold  of  his  brother  (b)  (of)  the 
house  of  his  father. 

Intended  in  this  set  of  pai'allels  is  a  detailed  explanation  of 
the  anarchj-  predicted  in  verse  4 ;  the  parallelism  is  clear  as 
between  the  various  parts  of  verse  5  (a  to  b,  c  to  d,  and  ab  to 
ed;  but  in  form,  a  more  closely  to  c,  and  b  to  d)  :  stichos  6a, 
despite  the  fact  that  it  begins  with  hi.  "for"  (A.  ^'.  "when""), 
is  also  parallel  to  5a  and  5c ;  the  h'l.  then,  should  be  translated 
as  a  climactic  "yea."  The  stichos  hrth  'ilhhhn  (6b)  is  difficult, 
even  if  translated  "in  the  house  of  his  father"";  for  in  breaking 
the  parallelism  it  becomes  especially  emphatic,  but  emphasizes 
an  unimportant  detail,  with  an  emphasis  wliieh  is  all  the  greater 
because  of  the  contrasting  phrase  "in  my  house""  in  7c.  The 
suggestion  offered  by  parallelism  is  that  6b  should  represent  a 
climax:  indeed  "father"  is  the  climax  of  one  set  of  terms:  man, 
neighbor,  ancient,  honorable,  brother;  hcth,  "house,"  then,  is 
probably  an  error  for  brn,  "son,"  the  climax  of  the  contrasting 
series:  "yea,  a  son  (shall  seize)  his  own  father."" 

G-7.   (()(■)    Thou  hast  clothiug,    (d)    be  thou   our  ruler,    (o)    aud 

(let)   this  ruin    (be)   under  thy  hand.       (7a)    In  that  day  he  shall 

swear,  saying  (b)  I  will  not  be  an  healer;   (e)  for  in  my  house  (is) 

neither  bread  nor  clothing:    (d)  make  me  not  a  ruler  of  this  people. 

The  absence  of  any  word  introducing  the  direct  discourse 

in  6c,  contrasted  with  the  long  introductory  line    (7a)    to  the 

discourse  beginning  in  7b  is  mitieeable:  jiartieulai'ly  the  jilirase 

"in  that  day,"  whieli   elsewliere   is  always   pnipi-rly   empliatic, 

is  here  emphasis  misplaced,  in  the  middle  of  a  scene  instead  of 

at  the  beginning  or  end;  it  adds  nothing  to  the  )iicture-propheey 

[332] 


r„r,ill,lism   1,1   lsiii<ili.  Chaptn-s   1-10  277 

rHATTEK   3 

lliat  ■■i>ii  till-  vi-ry  day"  of  liciii';  askfd  tlic  man  shall  answer. 
11'  rrtaiiutl.  tin-  line,  as  in  otluT  cast's,  is  an  "asiilf." 

The  phrase  "thou  hast  cdothiii;,'"  also  is  without  any  parallel. 
Mut  the  referenee  to  elothinj;  here  antieipates  and  so  spoils  the 
suddenness  of  the  eliniax  in  7e  ;  and.  on  the  wimlr,  the  picture 
of  two  brothi-rs  unaware  of  the  eondilion  of  each  otinTs  atVairs 
— one  atTiriniiif,',  the  other  denyinj;,  that  he  has  elothiu'; — is 
rather  absurd.  .Moreovir.  the  reply  in  7a  is  one  to  a  remark 
eoneerninir  rather  food  than  elothiu};  as  the  more  important  fac- 
tor. By  the  omi.ssion  of  6e  ("thou  hast  elothin<r'")  and  by  the 
referenee  of  the  conversation  to  each  of  the  pairs  mentioned  in 
the  previous  verses,  not  alone  to  the  two  brothers,  the  picture 
becomes  dear  and  tiie  emphasis  properly  jilaeed  :  the  stanza  is 
then  seen  to  contain  two  eharacteristieally  Isaianie  turns.  I'p 
to  this  point  lie  has  pictured  a  coiulitioii  of  atuirehy  as  it  would 
normally  be;  and  tin'  mind  of  the  heanr  naturally  assinnes  that 
the  attempt  of  every  man  is  to  wrest  the  power  to  himself.  But 
then  comes  tiu'  turn  to  the  thoujrht :  each  nuin  seeks  not  to  jraiu 
power,  but  to  tlirust  it  upon  another.  The  second  unexpected 
factor  lies  in  the  reason  for  the  refusal  of  the  kinfrship:  the  lack 
of  a  piece  of  bread  (the  «rarment  is  comparatively  an  unim- 
portant matter,  and  reference  to  it  nii^ht  be  omitted  without 
weakt'uinj;  the  sense:  it  is  included  only  for  tlii'  sake  of  ]iar- 
allelism.) 

The  irony  in  the  situation  thus  revealed  is  nuule  clearer  by 
tlie  prim  luimor  of  the  pun  in  the  word  "ruin,"  iiuikhshflo  (lit. 
"stiunblinjr  block")  for  "rule,"  un  itisluilil :  the  meaninj;  is  fixed 
by  the  parallel  "be  thou  our  ruler."  The  play  is  carried  fur- 
ther by  the  use  of  the  word  x<'>bhi'sh:  from  the  root  "to  biiul," 
it  means  botli  to  dress  wo\inds  (here  these  of  the  in.jured  state) 
and  to  rule  (ef.  Job  :14.17:  "shall  even  he  that  hateth  ripht 
RovernT"  iia\"l>lii'ish :  this  meaning  is  derived  probaltly  from  that 
of  "harnessinjr,"  "restraining'")  ;  apiin  tlie  j)rimary  thought  is 
made  clear  by  tlie  parallelism  between  x"'''"-''''  ""t'  '?'^C'" 
("ruler").  The  offendinp  elnu.se  siiiild  I'^khii,  "thou  hast  (lit. 
"to  thee  is"!  clothing,"  possibly  had  its  oripin  in  a  marginal 

[  .1.1.1  ) 


ill  Isaiah,  Chaptrr.s  1-10 


mainlrdhd.  "i-uli',"'  a  true  g'loss  on  iiidkhshi'lil,  or  in  a  coiiHatioii 
oi'  tliat  inai'tiinal  word  with  an  ()ri.triiial  I'kha  ("come":  i.e., 
"coiiif.  I'liln-  shall  tiiou  he  ovn-  u.s"i  ;  notice  that  /'/,■/((]  is  written 
with  the  final  /(. 

8-9.  (8a)  For  Jfriisuleiii  is  ruiiie<l  (bj  and  Judali  is  fallen,  (8e) 
because  their  tongue  and  their  doings  are  against  the  Lord  (d)  to 
provoke  the  eyes  of  his  glory.  (9a)  The  show  of  their  countenance 
doth  witness  against  them,  (b)  and  they  declare  their  sin  as  Sodom, 

(<■}   they  hide   ( it  i    not. 

Possibly  the  lirst  kl.  "for,""  should  be  omitted;  notice  the 
same  woi'd  introducini!'  the  next  sentence  (8c  :  A.  \'.  "b(>eause"")  ; 
Sa,  b  docs  not  cxpivss  the  cause  of  the  fact  of  ruin,  but  of  the 
author's  use  of  the  term  iinihhshrlH  in  tlic  i)revions  stanza;  i.e., 
it  is  ex|.lari:itory :  if  retained,  the  tirst  /,■/  mieht  be  translated 
"yea,"'  or  "ijide.'d." 

From  the  standpoint  of  jiarallelism  the  strophe  Sc-9  is  not 
always  clear.      On   tiic  whole,   it   emphasizes  not  the  sin  whicli 

the  sin  was  .■ommitled.  This  is  the  note  struck  by  the  oiuMiin- 
word  "their  ton-ue"":  and  it  is  rep,.ated  in  the  third  line  by 
"their  faces"":  in  the  fourth,  by  "they  pi-oclaim.  they  ilo  not 
coll.'eal."  The  second  slich..s,  "t(,  provoke  the  (ys  of  his 
f^iory,"  Ihoueh   it    is  not   deal-,  is  not   out  of  harmony  with  the 

main  theme,  "impudeiu f  the  toneue";  the  only  word,  then, 

that  clearly  adds  a  variant  idea  is  "tlii'ir  deeds"  in  the  tirst 
stichos  (,Sci.  Criticism,  then,  should  be  directed  toward  this 
word. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  a  double  subject  in  one  sentence,  when 
not  paralleled  by  a  similar  eonstructiou,  is  always  suspicious; 
this  is  true  even  if  the  doidile  stibjeet  consists  of  synonyms;  but 
when  one  of  them  cxpi-essi's  an  added  idea  it  becomes  liy  contrast 
lame.  .Morcovi'r.  the  const  rui't  ion  is  extremely  awkward;  liter- 
ally; "their  toiiiiue  and  then-  deeds  (are)  toward  the  Lord."" 
It  is  perhaps  more  than  a  coinciden.'c  tliat  the  Septuaji-int 
.'vidently    did    n.d     n^ad    the    word    iinr  al<  hh,  ,ii    "their    deeds,"" 


[ :';« j 


I'linillilism   ill   Isiiiiih.  Cli,ii>lirs    l-ln  'JTit 

fiiTit  (ii'o^ias-.  clear  i'iii(ii>;li  to  lead  to  tlic  coiii'liisinii  that  it 
(•liaii>.'e»l  purposely  to  iiiake  licltcr  sense.  I'erliaps,  then,  its 
text  really  eoiitaimd  a  form  of  the  root  'thnil,  and  iifawwld, 
■'aet  wrontrfiilly,'"  shouki  he  read;  this  ileiioiniiiative  partieiple 
oeeiirs  ill  Is.  26.10;  and  the  root  is  fairly  freipient  in  eoiiiieetidii 
with  ••ton-riie"  and  "•.speeeh"  (Job  ;-).Ui,  I3.M).  1:5.7,  27.4;  Mai. 
2.t>:  I\s.  107.42;  Is.  ;">9.:J :  l>sh(hi'kh<  ,11  ■iiiihl  th,h<ili<:  "your 
toiifrne  hatli  imittered  porvorspiiess " ;  and  for  the  nse  of  tlio 
preposition  '«/,  eoiiipare  Is.  :i2.() :  I'-dhabbi'r  'il  '"dhi'tnai  to' ft, 
■"to  litter  error  a':ainst  the  Lord").  Mo' <il' li'hi  m  wa.s  possibly 
due  to  the  same  Word  ill  verse  10,  or  to  marfriiial  notes  refi-rriiifr 
to  both  pas-safjes;  for  another  sii<:<;estion  retrardiiifr  the  suflix 
lit  III,  sec  below. 

Ill  Si"  tin-  phrase  "to  provoke  the  eyes  of  his  •rlory"  is  more 
diftieiilt  than  the  Eiifrlisli  reveals;  literally  it  is:  "to  rebel  afiainst 
the  eyes  of  his  frlory."'  The  expre.ssion  is  iiiii(|iie;  the  nearest 
approaeh  to  it  is  found  in  I's.  lOtJ..!:!:  "tiny  rebelled  a^'aillst 
(defied)  his  spirit"  (ef.  I.s.  63.10)  ;  but  the  spirit  (n("v)  of  God, 
like  the  ""rlory  of  (iod,"  in  a  way  stands  for  (iod  himself,  whieh 
the  "eyes"  do  not.  Parallelism  su<;<rests  that  "eyes"  beloiifrs 
in  a  .series  of  subjects:  "toiifiues, "  "eyes,"  "faecs";  i.e.,  it  is 
men's  i-yos  that  reliol  a<;aiiist  his  (God's)  plory ;  compare  I.s. 
">.lo:  "the  eyes  of  the  lofty  [i.e.,  proud)  shall  be  humbled." 
The  ehnii^e  re(Hiires  merely  the  addition  of  the  siiflRx  luiii, 
"their,"  to  "eyes";  it  is  this  very  sufli.x  which  is  siiperfluons 
(ina'al'lihi  III)  in  the  line  above,  if  our  surmise  there  is  correct; 
the  word  "eyes"  i.s  written  defectively  in  the  Ma.ssoretie  text 
(without  its  medial  1/),  and  the  Septiiajiint  also  points  to  illegi- 
bility, rendiii<r  "their  plory  has  been  broufrht  low,"  possibly 
'iliii'i  or  nil' ml  (with  final  h )  kir  blunlliniii  instead  of  'ini 
kh'bhoilho;  this  a>;ain  contains  the  lettciN  h  and  hi.  The  slight 
additional  chanpe  of  Uniiroth  to  iiuniirolh  (i.e.,  partieiple  instead 
of  infinitive:  so  the  Septnajrii't  reads  airtiOovirrf^ ,  "disobedient") 
restores n  perfectly  normal,  intellijrible.  parallel  line:  if  tiumiroth 
'I'liihnii  k'^bh'idht'i  (or,  if  the  error  arose  from  the  fact  that 
'I'ni'him  was  misplaced  and  then  written  in:  w  -'  I'lu'ln  in  iiuini- 
rnlh  k'bhodhn). 

(  .13.-,  I 


280  I'araUelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1^10 

Chapter  3 

In  stichoi  8c  and  Sd  the  parallelism  is  clearly  established  by 
the  verbs  "witness"  (but  literally  "answer,"  "speak":  Uni'thd) 
and  "declare";  and  though  tlie  subject  of  "witness,"  namely 
"show,"  hakkarath,  is  not  entirely  clear,  the  underlying  thought 
in  both  stichoi  is  undoubtedly  "their  guilt  is  plain  to  all." 
Since  then  the  verb  hikkcr  ha.s  sometimes  the  meaning  "recog- 
nize," "acknowledge,"  the  phrase  may  well  mean:  "the 
acknowledgment  (i.e.,  acknowledging  look)  on  their  faces," 
which,  in  turn,  is  eiiuivalent  to  "the  impudent  look  on  their 
faces."  It  is  a  linguistic  coincidence  that  hakkarath  might,  on 
the  other  luuul.  be  derived  from  hakar,  which  in  Arabic  denotes 
both  "to  be  sleejiy"  and  "to  be  astounded" — hence  possibly  in 
origin  "to  have  a  fixed  look,"  and  here  "an  impudent  look"; 
in  Job  19.3,  where  the  same  root  appears,  a  translation  "ye  are 
shameless,"  or  "shamelessly,  brazenly,  persistent,  toward  me" 
would  be  possible. 

The  extreme  brevity  of  9c,  "they  hide  not,"  a  stichos  par- 
allel to  9b.  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  tlie  last  line  of  the 
stanza.  However,  it  is  possible  that,  parallel  to  "like  Sodom," 
"like  Gomorrah"  shciuld  be  inserted:  indeed,  the  absence  of 
reference  to  (loiiioi-rah  wouhl  lie  sti'iking  and  apparently  sig- 
nificant; compare  Is.  1.9,  10,  13.19;  Amos  4.11,  Jer.  23.14,  49.18, 
50.40;  Dent.  29.22,  32.32,  as  against  only  Lam.  4.6,  and  Ezek. 
chapter  16,  in  the  last  of  which  the  particular  nature  of  the 
reference  precludes  the  addition  of  Gomorrah. 

9-llc.   (9d)    Woe   unto   their  soul!    (e)    for  they   have  rewarded 

evil  unto  themselves.     (10a)  Say  ye  (to)  the  righteous  that  (it  sliall 

be)  well  (with  him)  ;  (b)  for  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings. 

(11a)  Woe  unto  the  wicked!    (b)    (it  shall  be)   ill   (with  him):    (e) 

for  the  reward  of  his  hands  shall  be  given  him. 

While  in  some  details  the  text  here  is  obscure,  the  |)arallelisni 

is  fairly  evident.     It  is  clearest  in  the  folluwiiiii-  stielmi :  9e,  "for 

they  have  rewarded  evil  unto  themselves":  lOb,  "fur  they  shall 

eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings";  and  lie,  "for  tlie  reward  of  his 

hands    shall    be    given    him."      (^f    the    remaining    three    main 

clauses  two,   !»(1,  "Woe  luilo  their  soul"  and   lla.   "Woe  unto 

the  wicked,"  are  also  elearly  parallel,  wliih-  th.>  miildle  one  in 

r  336  1 


I'arallilism   in   Isaiah.  Cliai,t,rs   l-JO  2Sl 

ClIAI-TEK    3 

tin-  series.  10a,  ••say  v.-  (ti.)  the  ri-rlitcoiis  that  (it  sliall  l)o  well) 
witli  liiiii."  tli(iu>,'li  ill  llioii-^lit  antitlii'tically  parallil,  is  in  form 
not  oloarly  parallel;  on  the  other  hanil,  one  nieniher  of  this  clause 
■"that  (or  'for')  well"  seems  to  he  paralhl  to  tlie  one  word  in 
the  stanza  not  yet  aeeounted  for,  "ill,"  in  111);  which  would 
then  rc<|uirc,  however,  the  insertion  of  tin'  word  "that"  (or 
"for")    before  it. 

Mut  the  clause  lOa:  "Say  ye  the  ri^'hteous  that  [or  'for'l 
wi'll"  is  a  stylistic,  if  not  <;rannnatical,  impossibility  :  and  it  is 
just  here,  also,  that  the  text  underlyintr  the  Septua^riiit  varies 
a^rain  :  "sayin<r,  let  us  bind  the  just  for  he  is  burdeii.some  to  us." 
Tiiis.  perhaps,  represents  a  conHation  of  nuirfriiud  ;i;los.ses,  in 
which  iC'inor,  "sayinjr"  (lit.  "to  say"  or  "in  saying"),  is  a 
variant  of  nr''s(ir,  "let  us  bind"  (written  with  the  sibilant  sin 
instead  of  sniinkh),  and  iioth  arisin<r  out  of  an  ori<;inal  'ashrr, 
"happy!"  This  woidd  then  restore  the  middle  clause  in  the 
scries  to  form  parallelism:  "happy  the  ri;jrhteous,  for."  etc. 

However,  there  is  al.so  a  minor  frrammatical  variation  in 
parts  of  these  versts,  in  that  9(1.  i»e,  and  lOb  are  in  the  third 
plural,  wiiile  the  remainin<r  clauses  are  in  the  singular:  the 
ela\iscs  in  the  plural  arc  consistent  with  tlic  precediu'T  stanza 
in  this  respect,  and,  moreover,  refer  directly  to  the  particular 
sinners  treated  there;  the  clauses  in  the  sinjrular  an-  in  the 
luiturc  of  general  rcHections,  eontrastinfr  the  lot  of  the  wicked 
and  the  ri-rhteous:  they  arc  |)robably  mar^^inal  additions  su^- 
jrested  by  such  te.\ts  as  l*s.  lllS.l! :  "Happy  shalt  thou  be  and 
(it  shall  be  I  well  with  thee";  or  if  by  Isaiah,  they  have  been 
wronjrfully  placed  here.  "Woe  to  their  .soids,  for  they  have 
laid  up  evil  for  th.msdves,  yea.  tli.-  fruit  of  their  deeds  shall 
they  eat'"  is  a  complete  and  consistent  two  line  strophe,  a  lilting 
eliKse  to  the  section  ve|-ses  1-!). 

12.    (n)   (A.I  for)  m.v  people,  rhililron   (nro  tlioir  opprossors,  (b) 

nnil  woiii)-ii  silmll  ruli>  over  tlieni.      (i*)   O  my  people  tliey  wliicli  \oa<\ 

Ihro  i-nu.ic  tliec  to  err,  (<I)  nnd  dpstroy  the  way  of  thy  patliii. 

The  first  couplet    (12a.  I>)   repeats,  in  jrcneral,  verse  4,  but 

the  wording;  in  I'Ja  is  not  entirely  clear;  liti-rally:  "my  people, 

(  337  1 


282  Parallelism   in  Isaiah.  Chaptrrs  1-10 

Chaptek  3 

its  oppressors  [plural]  plays  the  child  [singular]."  Aside  from 
the  grammar,  there  are  here  expressed  two  thoughts:  the 
rulers  are  oppressors,  and  they  are  childish  (or  perhaps  "are 
Nvautou'")  :  it  is  possible,  however,  that  nogh^sdw,  "oppressors," 
has  till'  more  geueral  meaning  here  "rulers,"  as  it  has  in  Zech. 
10.4,  and  as  the  parallelism  with  "rule,"  mdshclu,  in  verse  12 
might  suggest.  The  natural  force  of  parallelism  to  noghfshdw 
in  the  meaning  "oppressors"  has  led  Targum,  and  possibly  the 
Septuagint,  to  read  in  place  of  nfishlm,  "women,"  in  12b,  noshim, 
"creditors";  both  versions,  also,  understand  m'^' oMim  to  mean 
"gleaners""  (sec,  on  the  rout,  verse  4b),  fitting  in  admirably 
with  their  understanding  of  iiushhii:  "thy  creditors,  or  those 
that  collect  the  taxes  from  thee,  glean  thee,  strip  thee  clean"; 
and  notice  that  in  verse  14  the  figure  of  the  vineyard  reappears. 
Another  suggestion  is  offered  by  Amos  2.8,  where  one  of  the 
sins  of  Israel  is  again  described  as  "drinking  the  wine  of  the 
condemned  [lit.  "mulcted":  '"nushlm]  in  the  house  of  their 
God."  The  Septuagint  in  this  Amos  passage  translates  '"nilshim 
by  (TVKo<pavTiu)v,  usuallj-  representing  the  Hebrew  'dshaq  ("ex- 
tort" or  "oppress") — a  word  occurring  fre(|uently  in  refer- 
ence to  the  despoilers  of  the  poor  although  it  is  not  found  at  all 
in  the  earlier  Isaiah.  Now,  in  the  present  Isaiah  passage  the 
Septuagint  has  TrpaKTope';, ' '  exactors, "  "  tax-collectors, "  or  "  pun- 
ishers"  in  the  first  stichos  and  airaiTovine^  in  the  second;  but  the 
latter  is  the  usual  translation  (see  9.3,  14.4;  also  in  other  books) 
of  nd<jh's'im,  and  there  maj-  be  represented  here  a  transposition 
of  the  two  words,  so  that  TrpaKTopet  is  rather  the  translation  of 
its  reading  for  itdshtni :  possibly  of  vdshlm  (so  Aquila  and  Theo- 
dotion  to  Ps.  109.11;  against  this  they  have  in  Is.  60.17  rrpaKTwp 
for  Hebrew  noghes  and  Sejituaizint  e-TTio-KOTro? ) .  or,  since  in  24.2 
ndshe  is  more  exactly  ocfyeiXcop.  jii-oliahly  of  another  word, '  oWshlm 
("mulcter.s,"  "punishers""  i,  the  root  found  in  Amos.  At  all 
events  attention  should  be  jiaid  to  the  parallelism  between 
m'' til' Inn  and  ndsh'im;  since  here  "children"'  (if  this  be  the  cor- 
rect interpretation  of  the  root  of  the  former  word)  is  avoided  and 
a  drii,,iuinative  substituted,  "play  the  child,""  it  is  probable  that 


r<ir<ill.l,s„i   1,1   ls,noh.  Chai.t.rs    l-h'  Jv; 

•   IIAI'TKK    ;l 

iiashiiii.  ■wnincii,"  it"  i-orn-i-t,  is  to  l)f  takm  tij,'m-ativily  instead 
of  littTiilly;  i.i'..  "t'tTomiiiatos, "  •' weaklings.  "  as  in  JtT.  50.37, 
r)l.;iO:  "the  niifrhty  men  of  Hahylon  liave  beeonio  women";  a 
funnal  (leiiominative  from  niishhn,  parallel  to  nfol'liin,  was 
almost  impossil)l«'  bei-anse  of  the  peeuliar  natnre  of  the  word. 

The  ehanjie  from  third  person  in  12a,  b  to  second  in  I'Je,  d 
indicates  one  of  two  facts:  either  that  the  two  couplets  do  not 
belonfr  to<;ether  here,  one  being  then  a  stray  couplet  inserted  on 
the  mar<rin  because  of  its  similarity  to  tin-  othei-;  or  that  tin; 
sectuid  is  a  more  imiias-sioned  form  of  the  tiist.  and  pai-allel  to 
it  in  theme;  this  would  confirm  the  tisjnrative.  not  literal,  sijiniti- 
cation  of  lu'ishhti  in  verse  12b.  The  root  of  iii<'\ishsh>ri'kh<'i, 
"they  that  lead  thee,"  if  not  a  variant  of  jidsJuir,  "be  straifilit," 
at  least  sujisiests  it;  cf.  Prov.  9.1;3:  hiim-m' nashsh'rhn  'orxolhdni, 
"those  making:  straight  their  i)aths";  so  that  the  contrast  be- 
tween iifashsh'n'khil  and  math'hti  ("cause  thee  to  err  ';  root 
"deviate")  is  exceedingly  nice.  At  the  same  time  tlw  word 
'dshur,  "footsteps."  is  suggested  in  ni'iishsh'n'khfi,  establishing 
a  closer  parallelism  with  "way."  "path"  in  the  following 
stiehos  (12b). 

The  use  of  bilirii.  "d.stroy "  (lit.  "swallow"),  parallel  to 
tiinlh'iiii,  "pervert,"  is  striking;  one  expects  'ifiq'shfi  (Is.  59.8; 
Mic.  3.9),  hiltii  (Ps.  125.5;  Prov.  17.23),  or  ' iwwu  (Is.  24.1;  ef. 
/if' 'MM,  Jer.  3.21).  The  same  parallelism,  however,  occurs  in 
9.15;  and  with  other  forms  of  the  root  bdhr ,  in  2S.7.  win  re  in 
addition  to  nibhl'"  ii  and  tiV  fi  occur  shih/hii.  "swerve,"  "reel." 
and  pi'iqfi,  "reel,"  "totter"  (cf.  Ps.  107.27:  "they  reel  to  and 
fro,  and  stagger  like  a  drunken  man.  and  their  wisdom  is  swal- 
lowi'd  up."  tilhhitllo'  )  :  and  in  19.3  '•'bitUi'"'  is  parallel  to  «•'- 
itilbh'qii.  translated  "fail,"  but  in  its  turn  parallel  both  to 
'iinrii,  "twist,"  or  "distort,"  and  bdlaq,  "lay  waste,"  in  24.1. 
In  some  *)f  those  pa.s.sages  it  i.s  almost  impossible  to  find  anything 
of  the  idea  "to  swallow"  in  bCiUi' .  It  is  true  the  metai)hor 
swallow  up  the  road"  occurs  in  Arabic,  of  a  horse  that  runs 
swiftly ;  but  in  the  j>res<iit  pa.s.sage  such  a  striking  figure  would 
Mcm    to   be    possible   only    if   the   other   half   of   the    parallelism 


284  Piinillelism  in  Isdiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  3 

offered  another  aspect  of  the  same  figure  or  else  an  equally  strik- 
ing one.  The  passages  cited  referring  to  drunkenness  might 
suggest  here  the  figure :  They  that  should  lead  thee  straight 
cause  thee  to  reel  (like  drunken  men)'  and  they  swallow  j'our 
paths  (like  wine)  ;  in  28.7,  with  a  characteristically  Isianic  twist: 
"they  stagger  with  strong  drink,  they  are  gulped  by  [instead  of 
'they  gulp']  wine."  But  in  19.3  the  phrase  "I  shall  swallow 
up  their  counsel"  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  God;  and  in  Ps.  55.10 
occurs:  "SwallDW,  Lord,  their  tongue" — a  violent  anthropo- 
orphism  which  in  neitlirr  case  is  confirmed  by  parallelism.  It 
might  be  possible  to  urge  that  the  word  hdlir ,  in  the  figurative 
sense  "destroj^"  was  so  common  that  it  might  have  been  used 
without  suggesting  the  literal  meaning  at  all;  but  this  is  not  a 
satisfactory  explanation  in  the  ease  of  Isaiah,  especially  in  view 
of  its  frequent  parallelism  to  "pervert,"  "twist."  It  would  be 
tempting,  then,  to  find  a  second  root  hdla'  in  Hebrew,  corre- 
sponding to  the  Arabic  balagha,  but  with  the  opposite  meaning, 
"miss  the  goal,"  instead  of  "reach  the  goal"';  there  are,  of 
course,  many  such  Semitic  words  of  two  contrary  meanings. 
Failing  this,  we  are  forced  to  accept  bala'  as  a  sort  of  parono- 
masia on  htilal,  "confound,"  "confuse,"  or  of  popular  etraiology 
based  on  a  false  extension  and  application  of  the  primitive 
biliteralism  of  Semitic  roots. 

13-1-lb.   (13a)   The  Lord  standeth  up  to  plead,  (b)  and  staudetli 

to  judge  his  people;    (14a)   The  Lord  will  enter  into  judgment   (b) 

with  the  ancients  of  his  people  and  the  princes  thereof. 

The  parall.'listir  repetition  of  '•my  [iiisl  pr,,plr'-  in  12n.  12c, 

and  141)  shows  that  the  Ilei.rew  '■  p.v,pl,.s.--  'aiiimhii.  m  l:!b  is 

an  error  for  '(tmii\fi,  "liis  people,"  read  by  the  Septuagint  and 

English. 

There  is  a  peculiar  order  of  words  in  13a,  b :  while  the  predi- 
cate ]iarticiples  nissdhh  and  'omidh,  "stand,"  and  the  infinitives 
la-r'ibh.  "to  plead,"  and  Id-dhln.  "to  judge"  are  in  parallel 
positions  resju'etivilx-,  in  l:la  I  he  subject,  "the  Lord.""  is  in 
paraUel  position  to  the  objeet.  •ammhii.  '■people,"  in  13b.  Quite 
I)ossi!ily  the  uiuiatni-nl  order  in  13a  should  lie  changed:  in  either 


[  s-to; 


r(irall,lixm   i„   h<ii„h.  ('haijt.rs    1-10  'iS'i 

C'll.MTEK    :? 

t-aso  till'  Dinissioii  of  the  ()l)jfi't  in  tliis  verse  is  notieoable;  it  is 
supplied  first  in  l.'U) — an  example  of  restrictive  eliiuaetie  par- 
allelism, Avliieh  is  rare  in  Isaiah;  another  step  in  the  climax  is 
seen  in  14a,  where  tin-  object  is  further  restrieteil  by  modifiers : 
the  Lord  will  jutlfie:  he  will  jiuljre  his  people;  the  Lord  will 
jud^e  the  jjeojile's  rulers  and  princes. 

This   third   line  of   the  stanza    is  comparatively   very   lon<?, 

thoufjli  perhaps  not  lonner  than  L6a,  for  example;  nevertiieless, 

the  absence  of  other  tristichs  in   this   prophecy  mif^ht  lead  to 

suspicion  as  to  this  one.      Distich  formation  is  barely  possible: 

The  Loril   rises  to  plcnil  ami  stniuls  to  juiIrc  liis  people; 

The  Lonl  eiitors  into  juilKmeiit  with  his  people's  elders  nml  princes. 

Here  the  double  predicate  in  one  stichos  mi<rht  find  its  balance 
in  the  tlouble  ol)ject  ("elilers  and  princes")  of  the  second.  As  a 
(puitrastieli  the  pa.ssa;;e  would  otTer  three  ])arallel  lines  and  then 
a  fourth  line  eonsi.stin<r  apparently  merely  of  a  preiiositional 
phrase;  this  would  be  the  first  example  in  Isaiah  of  such  a 
stichos,  eontainiufr  a  proposition  neither  eomi)lete  in  itself,  nor 
yet  parallel  to  another  incomplete  proposition  like  it.si'lf  as  it 
would  be  if  the  te.\t  read  (ef.  4.4)  : 

The  Lonl  stauils  to  plen.l 

Ami  ri.'ws  for  jiulpiient. 

With  the  niieients  of  his  people, 
With  the  i)riiiie3  of  .lu.lnh. 

This  nuiy,  indeed,  have  been  the  orifiinai  form  of  the  prophecy. 
As  the  text  stands,  fiiudly,  since  the  fourth  line  does  contain  a 
t<nn  parallel  to  (icbntieal  with)  one  in  the  second  ("people"), 
it  is  possible  that  owinji  to  the  climactic  structure,  the  mind  sup- 
plies before  its  fourth  stielios  a  repetition  of  the  verb,  thus: 
The  L4>r.l  stnii'leth  up  to  plen-1 

Ami  stnnilelh  to  jmlgc  his  people. 
The  Lonl  will  enter  into  jmlKment 

[Anil  plend]  with  the  nncients  ami  princes  of  his  people. 

M-l.">.  (l»c)  F'or  yo  [lit.  "ami  ye — ye")  have  eaten  up  the 
vincynnl;  (il)  the  sjMjil  of  the  {K)or  (is^  in  your  hous<<s.  (l.m)  WHint 
mean  ye  (that)  ye  iM-at  my  people  to  pieees,  (!>»  and  frr'ud  the  fares 
of  the  poorf   (e)  saith  the  Lord  Cio.l  of  II. .^t^. 


t  311  1 


286  l-anilhlism   ui  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

CHAI'TEH    3 

The  abrupt  passage  to  the  dii-eet  discourse  is  agaiu  noticeable, 
but  not  unusual  (cf.  :!.6).  The  emphatic  we-'attetn,  "and  as 
for  \i)u,'"  is,  however,  ahuost  imique  at  the  introduction  of  a 
(lisc'onrsc,  for  it  usually  marks  a  contrast  or  an  especial  emphasis 
upon  till'  sulijcct :  so  even  in  Ps.  '2.6  where  it  again  occurs  at  the 
bt'ginning  of  a  spcrcli  tlic  contrast  and  emphasis  are  clear  as 
between  the  first  person  jilural  in  the  speecli  of  the  kings  of 
earth  and  the  first  singular  in  the  speech  of  God.  Moreover 
the  reference  to  the  vinej-ard  in  Is.  14c  is  abrupt ;  one  expects 
at  least  "my  vineyard"  (contrast  chapter  5  with  its  careful 
elaboration  of  the  figure  of  the  vine,yard)  ;  the  definite  article 
is  very  noticeable;  indeed,  it  is  this  probably  that  led  the  ver- 
sions to  fiiul  a  ]U-evious  reference  to  a  vineyard  (see  above,  the 
notr  til  vrrsc  12).  On  the  other  hand  15a  begins  with  a  phrase 
which  is  characteristically  the  introduction  to  an  indignant 
direct  discourse:  "What  mean  ye.""  etc.  (lit.,  "what  to  you"'; 
cf.  1.11,  also  22.1,  16).  Possibly,  then,  the  two  couplets  should 
be  transposed;  the  pronoun  ir'-'att<ia  would  then  be  either 
merely  parallel  to  the  suffi.x  in  Idhhon,  or  would  be  explicative: 
"ill  that  ye  have  eaten""  (lit.  "ye  having  eaten  the  vineyard")  ; 
or  tlie  contrast  hecoiiics:  "my  people  are  in  poverty,  while  you, 
the  leaders,  have  their  spoil  in  your  houses.""  Following  (and 
parallel  to)  "my  jiedjile"  and  "tlu'  poor,""  tlie  figurative  mean- 
ing <if  "vineyard,"  and  its  definiteness,  would  become  clear. 

lint  ill  14c  (j^'zclath  he-' dm,  "spoil  of  the  poor,"  is  suspicious 
because  of  the  repetition  of  "the  poor"  in  15b;  read  hd-  '^nabhtm, 
"grapes,"  parallel  to  "vineyard"'  (cf.  Mic.  2.2,  where  gczfld  is 
used  in  reference  to  fields).  And  as  a  parallel  to  "plunder," 
hJ-fr.  "eaten  up.'"  probably  for  Isaiah  had  still  what  seems  to 
have  been  its  jii-imit  ive  meaning,  "glean,"'  with  the  connotation 

lation  is  more  fitting  than 
this  sense.  Judges  9.27). 
is  an  excellent  parallel  to  ///^ 
Num.   ll.S,   where   dakh. 
dakh.  is  parallel  to  Idx'iit. 

I  M2  1 


"(lest 

roy"  or  "1 

iiirii "    (ct.  hdi-ar  in 

111    1.-. 

a   t'dhakk- 

'fi.  lit.  "juilverize," 

\diiil. 

.  "grind  in 

the  mill";  compare 

lother 

■   derivativi 

■   from   the   biliteral 

S'otice 

,  then,  the 

coniplcmenlary  par- 

r<iriilhlisiii   III   Isiii.ih,  Clnipl, 


i.ll.lisiii  ,.r  in.ti.|.l,..rs  lutw.vii    14.-,  il   an. I    i:)a.   1)    (■.Tap.'s  and 
I'orn ) . 

U).  (a)  Moreover,  tlio  Lonl  snitli,  hocmise  tlio  .lauulitors  of  Zion 
arc  liaiiKlity.  (b)  uiul  walk  with  strrti'lioil  forth  nocks  (c)  ami  wan- 
ton eyes,  (d)  walkini;  nu<I  minoinK  as  thoy  |,'o,  (f)  ami  niakinj;  a 
tinkliuK  with  their  foot. 

Tlioiv  is  some  diffiiMilty  in  idcntil'yin'r  tlie  form  of  this  stanza. 
Kill,  literally  "stn'ti"liin<r  |or  tnrnin<;|  tlu-ir  nrcks  and  ojrling; 
tlit'ir  eyes,"  in  it.self  i-ontains  two  parallfl  terms;  hnt  separatinp; 
into  two  stiehoi  would  make  lines  of  irrejrular  leiifrth  because  of 
■'and  they  walk."  iriit-t4'l(tkhuri.  Curiously,  trtil-irUtkhin'i  occurs 
a-rain  in  the  very  next  stichos  (translated  "as  they  fro"),  uot 
parallel,  hut  in  a  suixirdinate  clause;  in  addition  to  this  stylistic 
fault,  it  is  syiitaetieally  suspicious,  for  in  the  iiliomatic  construc- 
tion represented  Ity  lullnkh  whlphi'iph  trUikhnfi  (lit.  "a  jroiiiir  and 
trippiiifj  they  «ro")  the  position  of  the  finite  verb  is  normally 
licforc  the  infinitives  (except  in  Jer.  50.4,  where,  however,  there 
is  at  leiLst  no  repetition  of  the  verb).  In  the  Isaiah  jiassafre  the 
Septuapint  ajrain  ditTers  just  where  parallelism  points  out  a 
weakiie.s.s  ;  it  reads  in  stichos  d  t^  tropiia  twi'  irohoiv:  "  with  motion 
of  the  feet";  and  that  this  is  not  an  intentional  variation  to 
avoid  repetition  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  Septuafiint  ha.s 
a>:ain  tok  Troi/aij',  "with  their  feet,"  in  stichos  f  (cf.  the  repe- 
tition of  na^alpa  in  :L'2")).  Possibly,  then,  the  text  was  not 
dearly  in  order;  if  the  second  ti'UxkhnCi  (stichos  d)  bi'  omitted, 
hiil'ikh  ir'-tdphoph  woidd  be  a  circumstantial  accusative  infinitive 
phrase  dependent  upon  the  first  lilnkhnii,  and  paridh-l  to  the 
circumstantial  participles  in  b  and  e  and  to  the  circumstantial 
imperfect  in  16b  (cf.  the  probably  similar  parallelism  in  S.S)  ; 
or  if  the  first  ti'hikhuil  be  omitti-d,  the  j)articipial  phrases 
w^h'iuoth  't/droii  and  w'^auqq'ri'ilh  'luiitjitu,  '•stretched  forth  of 
neck  and  wanton  of  eyes."  modify  the  main  clause  in  stichos  a 
just  exactly  as  tWi'iph  v"'/''  and  "phi'ld  m'nu(Ul<i\  modify  the 
ntnin  elau.se  in  X.'2'l. 

The  Septuapint  furtlu-r  inserts  a  stieh.)s:  afia  (riipovaai  rois 
^^irati'a^:  "top'fher  with  a  tlrapirinj.'  of  their  garments  in  trains" 


288  ParaUclism   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  :'. 

— a  line  so  strikingly  apt  that  it  seems  necessary  to  regard  it  as 

based  on  an  original  reading;  perhaps' m-hmYp^x'^''"'"  '"  tisxnbhnd 

(crvpov/j.€i>  is  sdxdhh  in  II  Sam.  17.13). 

In  16f  occurs  f'' akkas}id ;  the  translation  "making  a  tink- 
ling" depends  uiion  the  noun  '"khilshii    (sing,  'chins)   in  verse 

18,  translated  "anklets."  The  root  oecni-s  again  in  Hebrew  only 
in  Prov.  7.22,  where  'ekhes,  however,  if  correct,  certainly  does 
not  mean  "anklet";  indeed,  this  translation  is  very  dubious  (see 
below)  ;  it  rests  upon  secondary  Arabic  connotations  of  a  root 
meaning  "to  rever.se"":  "to  )>ut  a  halter  on  a  camel" — but  in 
such  a  manner  tliat  the  idea  of  turning  or  twisting  (either  the 
rope  or  the  camel 's  head  )  is  included  :  hence  ' ikds  is  the  rope  with 
which  su<'li  tying  is  done,  and  perhaps  sometimes  simply  "a 
hi>lilili'. "  But  the  jump  from  this  meaning  in  Arabic  to  that 
of  a  "metal  anklet  worn  by  a  woman"  in  Hebrew,  and  still  fur- 
ther to  a  denominative  verb  denoting  "to  make  a  x'inging  sound 
with  such  anklets,"  especially  since  the  word  neeui-s  nowheri> 
else,  is  a  far  one.  The  Targum  manili'  :,hi.  "  lunvuking  to 
anger,"  read  perhaps  a  root  kd' as  fur  'dl.ns:  thr  Se|)tuagint 
Trat^ovaai^  "sporting,"  also  challenges  the  translation,  and  is  evi- 
dently nearer  to  the  intention  of  Isaiah.  In  Job  21.11  irpoaTrai- 
i^ovaiv  is  the  translation  of  rdqadh,"vm\  with  leajis  and  bounds" ; 
but  it  might  also  represent  the  Arabic  ralada.  "move  the  feet," 
which  would  be  in  Hebrew  rdkag,  if  found,  or  possibly  rdkas  (the 
matter  of  sibilant  .shift  especially  in  rare  words  is  not  clear  yet)  ; 
and  the  fact  that  'akam  and  rakasa  in  Arabic  are  s.ynonyms,  if 
not  variants  df  (inc  and  the  same  Semitic  root,  suggests  further 
possibilitirs  in  the  ]iresent  Hebreiv  of  Isaiah.  At  any  rate,  the 
Arabic  rakada  means  not  only  "to  dance,"  but  also  "to  kick  the 
skirts  of  the  garment  and  the  anklets  with  the  feet.""  bi-rijluiha ; 
and  it  is  the  motion  made  in  a  peculiar  manner  of  walking  that 
Mohammad  evidently  prohibited  when  he  said  (Sura  24.31)  : 
"let  them  not  strike  with  their  feet,  so  that  these  ornaments  of 
theirs  that  be  hidden  be  made  known."  It  is  true  that  here 
again,  in  this  Sura,  commentators  geuerallj-  introduce  the  word 
"anklets"'  after  "strike"  and  then  cite  it  as  a  support  of  the 

[  344  ] 


Purallilisiii   in   Isaiah,  ('liai)t<  is    1-10 

28!) 

ll.MTEK    3 

translatinii     •niiklft.s"  in   Isaiiili;  Imt   wliilr   in  tmtli   pli 

ees   SUeh 

a  i-i-fi'i-fni-f  may  lie  iiiclntltil,  it  tines  nut  lif  in  tin-  woi 

ds  used: 

till'  Anibie  (Itiniba,  "strike,"  hero  means  •'striiie  out." 

"wave," 

ami  ean  he  said  of  the  arms  as  well  as  the  feet  or  lejjs 

and  the 

■"ornaments"   ia<;ain   supposed   to  he  ""anklets")    are 

properly 

interpreted  hy  Savary  when  he  trnnslati's:  "Let  Iheni  luit  move 
ahout  their  feet  so  ns  to  allow  thosi'  eliarms  to  be  seen  whieh 
ouylit  to  ho  veiled"  (i.e.,  their  physieal  eharms;  compare  Ezek. 
16.7  Ithoiifih  the  Massoretie  text  has  been  (luestionedj  :  "thou 
art  eome  to  exeelleut  ornaments  ['"<lhl  '•'dlidjihn]  :  (thy)  breasts 
are  fashioned,  and  thine  hair  is  grrown."  Further  parallels  to 
the  present  stan/a  are  furnished  by  the  Arable;  thus.  Burton 
I  tran.slation  of  the  Thoiiaaiul  Mijhts  and  a  Ni<jht,  IV.  16)  writes 
that  the  Hedui  '•eonipares  the  jrait  of  a  woman  who  walks  well 
with  the  slifrhtly  swiiifjrinf;  walk  of  a  thorounrhbred  mare,  bendinj; 
her  graceful  neek  and  lookiiij;  from  side  to  side  at  objects  as  she 
pas.ses. "  In  Xijrht  24H.  a  man  impersonatin'i  a  woman  is  directed 
to  walk  so  as  to  advance  one  shoulder  before  the  other,  and  sway 
the  hips  ((ladiliin  iis-snmdl  ua-'akhkhir  al-ijomin  wa-hazz  al- 
'ariidif)  ;  in  Xipht  l:{4:  bend  the  body  from  side  to  side  in  stcp- 
pinj;  (tamayul  ft  l-khatawtit)  :  Xipht  198  (Hre.slau  edition): 
"trail  the  skirts  and  .sway  to  and  fro."  Especially  sifrinficant 
is  the  plira.se  (see  Lane  .s.v.  'akasa)  :  la'akkasa  fVI-inishyati, 
•'move  like  a  viper  [lit.  twist  oneself]  in  his  gait,"  with  exactly 
the  root  found  in  the  Lsaiah  passapo,  where  perhaps  "twist  with 
the  feet"  may  stand  for  "with  the  hips":  compare  the  more 
irineral  (euphemistic)  use  of  "feet."  as  in  Is.  7. "JO  (see  further 
on  ■"A(i.'ii»/i  bolow). 

17.   (n)    Tliprcforo   tho   Lord   will   smite   with   n   scab   the   crown 
(of  the  heail)  of  the  dauKhters  of  Zion   (b)  ami  the  Lord  will  dis- 
cover their  .secret  parts. 
iSi/>/>«iY.  "smite  with  a  scab."  is  supposedly  a  denominative 
from  sappa\ath    (with   the   heavier  sibilant),  "scab";   as  such 
it  is  not  found  again   in  tie  Old  Testament.      The  Septuagint 
varies:  its  TaTreiitMrei.  "humble,"  might  represent  I'ither  shdfil  or 
shax;  and  its  ap^otxrai  might  represent  a  margiiud  variant  ri'isln'. 


345) 


290  I'linillelisni  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  ?, 

"heads,"'  for  qodhqudh,  "crown."  Sippax  is,  indeed,  suspicious 
because  of  the  parallel  stichos,  in  which,  however,  there  is  the 
difficult  pothhcn,  translated  "their  secret  parts,"  but  not  found 
elsewhere;  the  Septuagint  lias  ax^JM'^,  "form"  or  "appearance," 
which,  while  it  might  be  merely  an  avoidance  of  the  difficulty, 
might  readil.y  represent  a  reading  shlth  (in  Prov.  7.10  this  word 
is  translated  etSo?,  "appearance,"  "form") ;  hence  possibly  the 
original  reading  was  shithhPn,  which  occurs  in  Is.  20.4:  "so 
shall  tile  king  of  Assyria  lead  away  the  Egyptian  prisoners  and 
the  Ethiopians  captives,  young  and  old,  naked  and  barefoot,  even 
with  their  buttocks  uncovered,"  x"^^'Ph<'  shcth,  an  expression 
of  grief  and  shame  at  tlie  same  time  (see  Wellhausen,  Reste 
arahisch(H  Ildch  nihuiiis.  p.  177,  note  ?>.  for  a  reference  to  the 
uncovered  buttocks  in  mourning).  At  any  rate  y^'dre,  "dis- 
cover." in  this  stichos  suggests  a  parallel  in  the  preceding:  the 
very  word  found  in  Is.  20.4,  xSsaph,  with  a  mere  transposition  of 
the  consonants  of  sippnx;  in  Is.  47.2  again  occurs  "uncover  thy 
locks  (veil),  make  bare  the  leg,  uncover  the  thigh"  (lit.  "train": 
xospl  shfihhel)  :  here  then  w('-xasnph  qodhqddh,  "will  lay  bare, 
uncover,  the  crown."  The  verb  sdphox  of  the  Hebrew,  on  the 
otlicr  hand,  is  used  l)y  Isaiah  in  .■').7  in  (piite  a  ditt'erent  sense: 
".shed,  pour  out";  and  in  14.1  (with  the  heavier  sibilant  and 
licuce  aiijtarently  even  closer  to  "scab")  in  the  meaning  "join," 
"attach,"  where  the  parallel  (Idwd)  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  which 
particular  sdphax  is  meant;  while  in  5.7  the  word  is  chosen  for 
its  paronomasia.  It  is  fairly  clear,  then,  that  Isaiah  would  not 
have  used  the  ambiguous  sdphax  here  without  a  parallel  to  make 
it  clear.  And  if  the  line  from  the  Septuagint  regarding  the 
trailing  cloak  be  restored,  the  revised  reading  "lay  bare  the  but- 
tocks" offers  just  that  jirophecy  of  poetic  justice  which  the 
Semitic  feeling  demands:  instead  of  the  cloaks  trailing  behind 
there  shall  be  nakedness  of  buttocks;  on  the  thought  compare, 
besides  Is.  47.2,  Jer.  1.3.22:  "thy  skirts  (train)  are  discovered." 
It  is  possible  that  this  couplet  is  only  the  fragment  of  a  larger 
stanza  introduced  by  Jdhhrn,  "therefore."  the  omission  of  which 
word  (it  is  suiijilied  in  the  English)  is  unusual;  for  the  formula 

[346] 


ill   Isaiiili.  Cliiiiilirs    I- ID 


i/(/'.ni  k'l,  ••lirraiisi'  tliat.  "  nci-urs  a<.'aiii  in  Is.  li.lti,  7..').  S.(),  always 
with  some  oiHTt-lativi"  in  tlio  apodosis.  An  easy  cliaii'ri'.  howi'vi-r. 
i.r  III -sippii\  into  tlic  impi-rfwt  i/>s(ippi'>x  would  yifUl  a  normal 
t-onstrui'lion  ;  and  pnssiMy  tln'  I'ouidct  is  to  In-  joined  directly 
to   vel-se  •2\. 

IH  2;!.   (18)    III  tlitit  iliiy  till'  Lonl  will  take  away  tlic  bruvi-ry  of 

(thoir)    tiiikliii);   orimnioiits    (about    tlifir    feet),    (their)    cauls,   ami 

their  roiuul  tires  like  the  iiiooiis,  (19)  anil  the  ehaiiis,  and  the  braee- 

lets,  anil  the  inuOlers,   (20)    The  bonnets,  ami  the  ornninents  of  the 

legs,  and  the  heail-bamls  and  the  tablets  and  the  ear-rings,  (21 )  The 

rings  and  nose-jewels,  (22)  The  ehangeable  suits  of  apparel,  and  th" 

mantles,  and  the  wimples,  and   the  erisping  pins,   (23)    The  glasses, 

ami  the  line  linen,  and  the  hoods,  and  the  veils. 

Tlii'iv  is  no  reason  for  reirardiiig  this  list  of  terms  as  noii- 

Isaianie;  the  very  wealth  of  detail  makes  its  own  appeal  and 

effeet    (ef.  2.12.  for  instance),  althoujjrh   it  js  possible  that  this 

stanza  is  misplaced  (see  the  note  at  the  end  of  the  last  stanza  I 

and  formed  part  of  chapter  2,  or  a  similar  poem,  referrinij  to 

the  proud  luxury  of  women  as  that  does  to  the  pride  of  men;  the 

introductory  words  "and  on  that  day  the  Lord  will  take  away" 

would  then  he  a  similar  line  to  2.12  or  2.20  ("and  on  that  day 

man  shall  cast  away.M  etc.;i.     Whether  this  be  so  or  not.  there 

can  he  no  ilouht  that  there  is  some  disortler  in  the  list  of  objects 

enumerated.       As  the  te.\t  .stands  there  are   twenty-one  objects 

in.stead  of  twenty,  nmkinjr  if  coupled   in  pairs  the  freipient  ten 

line  or  five  couplet   stanza.      Some  of  the  apparent   confusion 

may  be  due  merely  to  misundcrstandinir  of  certain  terms  in  the 

li.st;    ainontr    them    are   several    not    found    elsewhere:    and    the 

specific  meaning  of  terms  for  clothinir  is  subject  to  ehanjrc   in 

the  course  of  time.      The  objects  enumerated   in  the   list   have 

been  divided  into  two   (or  three)   proups:  articles  worn  on  the 

hciul  and  those  worn  on  the  rest  of  the  body  (or  orruiments  for 

the  head:  those   for  the  rest  of  the  body;  -rarmcntsl  ;  this  is  a 

natural  order:  in  16.  and  ajrain  17.  first  head  and  then  feet  are 

mentioned.     Hut  in  any  ea.se  '"kilsim,  as  usually  translated,  Eu}.'- 

lish,  "tinklinp  nrnaments  about   the  feet,"  ilisturbs  the  order. 

und  there  .seems  to  l>o  no  rea.son  why  just  the  nnklets  should  be 

tliu.s  emphasized  ns  a  sipn  of  pride  or  of  immodesty. 

[  347  I 


292  I'tiralhlifnii  in  Isdiiih,  Chapfcrs  1-10 

Chaptek  3 

It  has  been  supposed  tliat  'olvushn  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  list  just  because  tf'akkasiM,  "tinkle,"  was  the  last  mentioned 
act  in  verse  16 ;  but  see  on  that  word  the  note  above.  The  Tai-- 
gu)n  translates  "sandals,"  mfsanayd;  but  whether  this  was 
m('r(4y  a  guess ;  or  represents  a  different  reading  again :  ;r '  al'uii 
(cf.  Is.  5.27,  11.15)  ;  or  is  based  on  'akas  and  'aqas,  "twist,"  or 
■'plait'"  (sandals  were  sometimes  made  of  woven-work;  and 
ni.'-m'Hd  means  also  "basket"),  it  is  difficult  to  say.  Later  Jew- 
ish commentators  attempt  an  etymological  justification  by  de- 
scribing them  as  sandals  made  of  the  skin  of  the  viper,  'ekes,  a 
word  uliich  Eashi  cites  also  in  connection  with  f'' iikl-iisml :  '"they 
stamp  with  their  feet  and  give  signals  to  young  men  in  tiie  mar- 
ket ]ilace.  to  arouse  in  them  evil  desire  like  the  poison  of  the  asp, 
'(/,(.<."  which  later  IIel)rcw  word,  however,  seems  to  be  only  the 
Greek  ep^ty.  At  any  rate  neither  etymology  nor  tradition  justi- 
fies ' '  anklets. ' '  The  Septuagint  evidence  is  not  certain  ;  its  fourth 
term,  fj.rjvia-Kov;,  is  the  Hebrew  third,  sahcronlm  (cf.  Judges  8.21, 
26)  ;  its  third,  Koavfi^ov; ,  is  the  Hebrew  second,  sh<^bhlslm  (cf. 
Ex.  28.14,  25,  39,  with  f  for  s  in  the  root)  ;  therefore  the  Greek 
second,  ifxirXoKiov,  might  be  the  Hebrew  first,  '"kiishn:  the  Greek 
means  "braid,  fashion  of  wearing  a  woman's  hair,"  which  is  the 
exact  meaning  of  the  Arabic  '  iqfig  (here  again  there  is  a  not 
unparalleled  confusion  of  'okas,  aka^',  'aqa^,  'aqash,  etc.,  cf. 
Hebrew  (^cixnq,  suxaq,  and  Arabic  daxika,  "laugh,"  where  gut- 
turals and  emphatics  again  are  the  cause).  The  Greek  first  term 
ifiaTia/jiov  would  then  be  an  insertion,  or  else  might  represent  a 
doublet  of  '"kdshii  in  the  form  tn''kassim  ("gai-ments"  in  Is. 
23.18).  In  otiiir  words,  the  text  was  not  certain;  and  it  seems 
(|uite  |irol)able  that  the  troulilesome  '"kil^hii  was  itself  originally 
miTcly  a  dittography  or  variant  of  the  following  sh<^bhM7n 
(notice  that  the  older  commentators  associated  it  with  shaba^, 
"weave"  or  "plait"),  or  had  its  origin  in  a  marginal  reference 
to  the  ('"'akkasna  above.  'Without  it  there  are  ju.st  twenty  terms, 
the  first  pair  of  which  becomes  hash-  sh'^bhlsim  w'^has-sah^ronlm, 
"ornaments  in  the  form  of  .suns  and  moons"  (so  several  modern 
commentators)  ;  if  '"k(lsJ))i  be  retained,  it  should  be  translated, 

[348] 


I'antlli  Usui   in  Isaiah,  ('hai)tirs   I- In 


Willi  . I. 'wish  coiiiiinMitatcn-s.  •■Iiraids,"  or  •'plaiti'tl  ornaiin'iils  of 
the  liair,"  I'nniiinj;  a  pair  with  sir  lihlsim.  in  llic  si-iisi-  'liair-iH't 
or  hair  onianu'iit." 

The  fourth  term  in  the  IIol.ivw,  (i'/i/(7.  conrspontis  to  the  fifth 
ill  thi- (ircck,  Kcidefia  (tin-  root  nfitaf  means  "dro]),"  "pour"  in 
Arabii-;  and  st)  KaOiiifii  ""lit  fall,"'  also  "pour");  but  for  tlie 
fifth  and  sixth  of  the  Ilehn-w  [slu'roth  u"hd-r<'aloth :  "chains" 
and  possibly  "veils,"  thnujrh  the  latter,  from  nV al  to  "(luiver," 
shake."  nii^'ht  mean  "baii'rles";  aeeordiufj  to  ilaimonides,  "little 
bells"),  the  Septuagriiit  apparently  has  the  one  phrase /coo- /ioi' toO 
■rrpoaiim-ov  ainwv.  "ornaments  of  their  faee";  possibly,  however, 
this  represents  only  r'Tiloth,  while  shfriilh  is  either  dittography 
in  the  Hebrew  and  to  be  omitted  (if  '"kdshit  above  is  retained) 
or  is  the  extra  term  which  the  Septuajrint  has  between  the  pres- 
ent twelfth  and  thirteenth  of  the  Hebrew.  The  Hebrew  and 
(irei'k  seviiith  thus  correspond  :  p'  'i'rhii,  which  later  means  "tur- 
ban.s,"  but  which  apparently  was  taken  by  the  Septua^'int  in  a 
more  jreneral  sipnifieance,  "ornament,"  closer  to  the  roof,  and 
translated  ri)v  avvOtaiP  tov  Koa/iov  rf;?  S6^i)<;.  "a  combination  of 
gloriotis  ornaments"  (so  in  61. :3  p''i'r  is  Bo^ap)  ;  and  the  eifrhth 
^'•dflhoth  is  ;^X<Sa)ro<f  (cf.  Xum.  M.'M;  II  Sam.  1.10^.  "armlets"; 
the  ninth  qishshurh)!,  from  the  root  "to  bind"  may  well  be  the 
corresponding  -^eWta.  which  in  (Jen.  24.22  and  Ezek.  16.11  trans- 
lates (;'mi(}hhii,  "bracelets,"  also  from  a  root  "to  bind"  (though 
in  Jer.  2.32  (lishshilrhii  is  <ni)6o?)€aniha,    "bound"  s))ecifically  on 

the  breast).      The  eorrespondenc"'  bi-tween  Hebrew  and  (Ji k  is 

again  certain  in  the  thirteenth:  )il:nii'  hd-'dph  and  ivwrta,  "ear- 
rings"; but  the  twelfth  (ireek.  irfptBe^ia,  seems  to  be  either  an 
in.sertion  or  a  transposition,  since  the  Hebrew  twelfth  fabbiVdth 
is  eli-arly  the  ({reek  eleventh  BaKTvXt'oiK.  "finger  rings"  or  "seal 
rings."  The  Hebrew  tenth,  hiittr  Inin-ntphrsh,  and  eleventh, 
l'\dshiiii,  then,  represent  either  the  (ireek  tenth  alone.  etiirXoKiov 
or  the  tenth  and  twelfth,  irepihe^ia.  I'lifortunatcly  both  Hebrew 
terms  are  not  found  elsewliere;  hiHtf  lumiirphrsli  literall.v  is 
"hou.ses"  or  "receptacles"  of  the  .soiil,  and  l'x<'ishhii  is  "whi.s- 
perings";  hence  translated   by  Jewish   commentators  sometimes 


.149  J 


294  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  3 

"ornaments  worn  over  the  heart  [soul]  and  the  ears"  re- 
spectively; by  modern  commentators  "smelling  bottles"  and 
"charms."  It  is  curious  that  neither  Septuagint  nor  Targum 
shows  any  exact  equivalent  for  the  element  bdtte,  "houses," 
or  ' '  receptacles ' ' ;  and  that  the  Targum  here  has  q"dhdshim, 
"rings,"  its  translation  of  '"ghlllm  in  Num.  31.50,  where  the 
Septuagint  has  ■rrepihe^ia,  the  inserted  or  misplaced  term  men- 
tioned above.  This  certainly  points  to  a  variant  text.  So,  too, 
the  Targum  x^^^t^^d  for  l^x^^^^^^^  would  seem  to  point  to  an 
interpretation  based  upon  a  transposition  of  x  aud  I  and  a  variant 
t  for  sh  ;  while  the  Greek  iixirXoicLOv  (used  also  above  to  translate 
''^kaslm  and  in  Ex.  39.15  for  '"hhoth,  "interwoven  ropes  or 
chains")  might  also  represent  a  root  xa?-a.^,  "mix";  for  in  verse  3 
where  la-xash  occurs  again  the  Septuagint,  like  Jewish  commen- 
tators on  verse  20,  connects  it  properly  with  the  ear,  aKpoarijv. 
The  omission  of  bdtte  from  the  Septuagint  is  all  the  more  strik- 
ing because  just  below  in  verse  26  it  translates  p<'thdxehd  by  OtjKai 
rov  Koa-fjLov  v/hmv,  in  which  OiJKai  might  be  bdtte,  as  in  Ex.  25.27. 
If,  nevertheless,  bdtte  nephesh  and  l^xashim  are  correct,  and  the 
latter  refers  to  ' '  whispering ' '  charms,  possiblj-  nephesh  represents 
the  Arabic  n-afutha,  "blow"  (or  is  a  corruption  of  the  Hebrew 
ndphax  in  that  sense),  since  blowing  is  also  a  medium  of  magic. 

Beginning  with  verse  22  there  is  a  series  of  names  of  gar- 
ments, with  the  exception  of  x"»^.^*wi  and  gilyonlm:  "purses" 
II  Kings  5.23  and  the  Arabic)  and  "tablets"  (Is.  8.1)  or  "mir- 
rors"; possibly  the  Targum  maxkayd,  however,  may  be  based 
on  a  reading  x^to.^*"*,  which  occurs  in  the  singular  in  Is.  8.1 
together  with  the  singular  of  gilyonlm:  "stylus  and  tablet";  but 
the  Septuagint  either  had  a  variant  text  or  wilfully  insisted  on 
logical  order,  for  its  series  of  terms  for  garments  is  uninter- 
rupted; and  so  it  would  be  possible  to  translate  gihjomm,  as 
some  modern  translators  do,  by  "transparent  garments"  (the 
root  means  "to  reveal";  Sept.  Sta^ai'i;)  or  "fine  garments," 
Arabic  jalwn;  while  x°^t'J'  might  be  the  x"'*.'a  which  occurs  in 
the  Targumic  Aramaic  in  the  meaning  "precious  garment." 

It  is  not  impossible  that  tlie  Hebrew  {■'"nlphoth.  "hirbans," 

[330] 


I'uralhligiii   III   Isaiiih,  ChaptTs    1-10  295 

('lI.MTER   3 

(^A.  v.  •  •  liood-s  ■  ■ ) ,  is  ail  frror  for  i;''ifi'ith,  'wrappirs,'  from  the 
root  "to  foKl"  or  ■'iloubl.'"';  in  Joli.  2!).14  the  Scptuatriiit  traiis- 
lati's  i^tlniph  by  SnrXotSi.  slu>\viii<;  the  same  error:  and  in  tlie  Jer. 
'rar<?inn  r'dhhihd  (whieh  oeeui-s  here  in  Isaiah  with  (^'nlfoth), 
is  a  synonym  of  i^-ti'iph;  also  (^'lu'iphit  is  in  tlie  Tar<rum  "skirt."' 
The  Septuagint  has  at  least  one  extra  tenn  in  this  f;i''»'ip  "f  triir- 
mcnts;  none  of  its  words,  however,  seems  to  be  (_-''n'tphil,  iiltlinii>,'h 
this  occurs  &ga'\i\  in  Is.  62.3  and  is  translated  BiaByjp.a. 

On  the  whole,  then,  the  evidence  points  to  uncertainty  in 
tradition;  and  the  probabilities  of  error  in  a  list  like  this  are  so 
great  that  variations  from  symmetrical  {>;roiii)ing  should  far  more 
likely  be  a.scrilied  to  copyists  or  cditoi-s  than  to  the  author. 

24.  (a)  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  tliat  instead  of  sweet  .smell 
there  shall  l)e  a  stink;  (b)  ami  instead  of  a  girdle  a  rent;  (c)  instead 
of  well-set  hair,  baldness;  (d)  instead  of  a  stomacher,  a  glrdinR  of 
sark-cloth;   (e)    (and)  burning  instead  of  I>eauty. 

In  this  five  line  strophe  the  parallelism  is  maintained 
throughout,  tliouph  in  form  the  last  line  varies  sliphtly,  as  is 
often  the  ca.se  with  odd  line  strophes:  the  order  of  words  is 
changed,  and  the  line  is  short.  The  versions  read  tlie  fifth 
line  ditTfrently  and  join  it  to  the  next  verse. 

The  condition  prophesied  in  the  strophe  is  apjiarently  one 
of  mourning:  this  is  clear  from  the  reference  to  baldness  and 
sackcloth;  to  "rent"  al.so,  but  the  translation  is  faulty;  while 
"stink"  in  the  first  stichos  and  "burning"  in  the  last  are  doubt- 
ful. But  the  word  translated  "stink"  is  nrnq;  the  root  means 
"to  decay":  u.sed  of  flesh,  then,  "to  fester,"  but  of  plants,  "to 
mould"  or  "turn  to  dust."  The  latter  is  doubtlessly  its  mean- 
ing in  r).24:  "their  rwit  shall  be  as  rottenness."  t»dq,  made 
plainer  by  the  parallel  "their  blossom  shall  be  as  dust,"  'dbhaq; 
so  in  Is.  34.4  the  underlying  figure  in  tuinmqqu  is  not  the  "fes- 
tering" of  thf  hosts  of  Heaven  but  their  "decay"  into  mould 
or  dust,  and  the  figure  is  continued:  "the  host  .shall  fall  down 
a.s  the  leaf  falleth  from  the  vine";  notice  that  in  the  precixling 
verse  (.34.3>  "stench"  is  the  proper  figiire  because  human  bodies 
are  spoken  of.     '•Dust"  is  tin-  nn-aning  r"<|uirfd  in  tlu'  present 

I  3>l  1 


296  I'aralUlisui   ii,  Isniah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  3 

stichos.  since  bf>si m,  "sweet  smell,"  literally  "balsam,"  "spice," 
is  a  vegetable  product ;  the  Septuagint  translates  KopviopT6<; 
(which  it  uses  for  'dbhdq  in  29.5)  ;  and  so  Is.  61.3,  apparently 
based  on  this  jirojihecy  and  reversing  it,  reads  "beanty  instead 
of  dust,"  p'  '("/■  hi^iith  'epher;  and  from  an  allied  root  comes  muq, 
"dust"  in  Arabic.  The  thought,  then,  is:  instead  of  using  the 
normal  product  of  the  tree,  its  spice,  they  shall  have  only  its 
mould  or  dust ;  this  figure  is  all  the  more  natural  in  that  the 
"balsam"  product  was  used  in  the  form  not  only  of  ointment 
but  also  of  spice,,  as  incense. 

Niqpd,  "a  rent,"  found  in  no  other  passage,  comes  from  one 
of  two  roots  meaning  respectively  "to  strike  off"  and  "to  go 
round."  The  Targum  and  Jewish  commentators  choose  the 
former  and  interpret  "wounds,"  "bruises";  the  Septuagint  the 
latter,  and  translates  ' '  a  rope ' ' ;  the  former  is  more  apt  with 
"scab"  and  "fester";  the  latter  with  the  figure  of  grief  and 
captivity,  and,  of  course,  with  its  own  immediate  complement 
"girdle." 

In  24c,  iiia'"s(  niisqslu,  "well-set  hair."  literally  "work  of 
iiiiqshe,"  is  again  difficult;  iiiiqshc,  as  a  masculine  noun,  is 
aira^  \ey6p.evov ;  as  a  feminine  it  occurs  apparently  with  the  mean- 
ing "hammered  metal  work,"  hence  the  Septuagint  here  "golden 
ornament";  but  the  Targum  "curling,"  "crimping  of  the 
locks,"  'aqqdphfiih  puthd,  is  more  apt.  Ma'csc  seems  super- 
fluous, then,  since  it  always  denotes  "an  object";  quite  possibly 
it  came  from  the  margin ;  if  it  was  intended  to  refer  to  this  line 
at  all  (but  see  lielow)  it  ])i-obalily  indicated  a  reading  mn'<'qdshd 
or  iiHi'"qdsd  ('dqash  or  'dqas.  "to  twi.st " :  hence  "braid")  in- 
stead of  i)ia"sc  iniqshe.  Even  today  in  the  Arabic  world  to  leave 
the  hair  unbraided  i.s  a  particular  sign  of  mourning. 

The  word  translated  "stomacher,"  pHhlghU,  is  an  aira^ 
Xeyo/xevovof  such  unusual  form  that  if  correct  it  may  be  a  foreign 
word.  However,  since  it  is  coupled  with  the  compound  phrase 
nvax"ghdrcth  saq,  "girding  of  saek-cloth,"  p^thtghtl  may  be  the 
remnant  of  a  similar  phrase;  in  Is.  61.3,  again,  occui-s  nm'o-te 
ih'hilld  idxiith  ru"\  Tii'hd :  "garment  of  praise  for  tln'  spirit  of 

[  -'S  ] 


l\inill,lls,„   in   Isaiah.  Chapl.rs   l-JO  L'!»7 

Chapter  3 
lioaviiu'ss";  liiTf  possiMy  \vi'  slnmlil  rrail  llicii  iini' "Irphrth  <jil: 
••i-limk  of  joy"  (witli  mi/""  atraiii  from  tin-  siipiTtliioiis  ma'"si 
just  above). 

Filially  tin'  wonl  A/,  '•Imriiinj;,"'  in  tln'  last  stic-hos  is  also 
iiiii(|iif.  altlioii^rli  it  is  cxiilic-abli-  as  from  the  root  kihrd,  "to 
Imrii,"  ami  it  might  be  possible  to  iiiideistaiul  ■'bramliiij;"  in 
a  fi-rurntivo  sense,  as  referring  to  the  laeeratioiis  wliieh  were  also 
signs  of  mourning  (ef.  .ler.  16.6;  forbidden  Lev.  21.5)  ;  but  this 
is  inapt  and  unlikely,  as  is  shown  by  the  failure  of  the  versions 
to  pereeive  it;  Targuin  takes  ki  as  the  onlinary  eonjunetion 
■for,"  despite  the  unusual  resultant  eoiistruetion ;  the  Septua- 
gint  had  po.ssil)ly  a  disordered  te.xt ;  Targum,  perhaps,  also,  sinee 
apparently  it  read  yopli'i  twiee.  Yophl,  "beauty,"  is  a  generic 
term;  it  means  |)erliaps  as  niueli  "prinking."  "beautifying,"  as 
natural  beauty,  in  the  .sense  of  .ler.  4.:U),  tithiioppi:  in  ki,  there- 
fore, there  should  be  .some  general  term.  In  Is.  61.3  "spirit  of 
weakness"  {A('/i«;  see  above)  may  npn.sent  another  reading  of 
kl,  while  the_  Septuagint  6  wo?  ffov  is  perhaps  baitayikh,  whieli 
may  have  been  a  eontlation  of  two  variants  b'khl  and  u'khi. 
"weeping"  ami  "smiting,"  of  whieh  the  former  would  be  most 
appropriate  here;  weeping  is  raentioned  with  baldness  and  saek- 
eloth  in  I.s.  22.12.  IT).:};  and  Job  16.16  (al.so  with  "dust"  here), 
where  the  Septuagint  and  Targum  in  translating  instead  of  "my 
faee  is  reddened  with  weeping,"  "my  faee  is  foul  with  weeping" 
show  that  disfigurement  due  to  tears  is  a  natural  thought ;  and 
in  the  ThoHsanil  Mi/lits  anil  a  Mijlit  (TSS^  the  effeels  of  mueh 
grief  and  weeping  are  deserilied  in  the  phra.se  laiihaiiijarat 
mahiisinuhu:  "his  beatities  (the  beaut iis  of  the  various  parts  of 
his  body)  were  changed."  /?''A7ii  sliould  be  eonsidered  here  even 
without  the  support  of  the  Septuagint  o  ui'o?.  whieh  is  quite 
po.ssibly  only  a  free  translation  of  nt'ttuDjikh  in  the  ne.xt  vei-se. 

2.'>.   (n)    Thy  m«>ii  •ilmll   fall   by  the  swonl,    (l>)    ninl   tliy   niiKhty 

(lit,  niiijht  I   ill  the  war. 

The  pandleli.sm  In'tween  the  eonerete  noun  "men"  and  the 

abstract  "might"  is  to  be  noticed;  especially  sinee  the  singular 

feminine  is  left  without  a  verb  oxprcs-sed,  and  must  be  nuule  in 


298  I'nrdUrlism  iu  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  3 

thought  subject  of  the  third  plural  "shall  fall"";  otherwise  the 
couplet  is  normal.  But  that  it  does  not  form  part  of  the  previous 
poem  is  evident.  Not  only  is  the  enallage  striking,  but  it  implies 
a  previous  personification  of  Zion  as  a  woman  (see  particularly 
the  next  strophe),  instead  of  a  literal  reference  to  the  women  of 
Zion.  Again  there  is  the  significant  coincidence  that  just  where 
internal  evidence  arouses  suspicion  the  versions  also  seem  to  have 
had  an  obscure  text,  the  obscurity  coming  at  the  point  of  the 
editorial  or  copyist  junction  of  two  prophecies,  or  addition  of  a 
fragment  of  one  to  the  end  of  another  complete  in  itself.  In 
addition  to  the  differences  already  noted,  the  Septuagint  repeats 
the  whole  plirase  ' '  shall  fall  by  the  sword ' '  in  place  of  the 
Hebrew  "in  wnv" ;  but  it  also  attaches  to  this  verse  the  first 
word  of  versi'  'Ji;,  ir'-'diitl,  "shall  mourn,"  but  in  the  form 
ir'-'ilnri  (  Ta-n-eLt'(i>d)j(TovTai :  "shall  be  humbled";  cf.  Is.  58.10)  ;  if 
this  actually  was  l)ased  on  an  original  td'"nc,  "thy  power  shall 
be  humbled,"  cf.  Ps.  102.23:  "he  weakeneth  my  strength,"  'innd 
qox}.  The  Septiiagint  also  adds  in  the  first  stichos  ov  .ciyaTra<; ;  and 
it  has  been  noted  that  the  Targum  also  has  an  additional  word 
(a  repetition  of  some  form  of  yophi)  :  aside  from  this  the 
Targum  offers  a  better  parallelism  than  the  Hebrew:  possibly 
(/ihhnnniikh  and  )ii''th<~  x'''''/>''.  m-  iii'thr  ijhfbhurdthekh  and 
'aitshr  xr/rA/),  wrrc  tile  original  tmns;  if  the  missing  x^^^^h, 
"thy  strength, ■■  stood  in  the  margin,  it  is  just  possible  that  the 
Septuagint  tov  Koafiov  vfimv  of  the  next  verse  represents  it  in  tlie 
form  xP^y<^kh,  "thy  ornaments." 

At  all  events,  the  annexing  of  verse  2.5  to  24  sliows  that  the 
prophecy  of  the  latter  was  understood  to  refer  to  mourning  for 
the  dead,  and  not  to  disease  or  other  bodily  suft'i-ring-  (e.g.,  not 
to  "scab"  and  "branding"). 

2(i.    (a)    And   her  gates   shall   lament   ami   mourn;    (b)    ami    (she, 

being)    desolate    (lit.   "purged,''   or   perhaps   "emptied''),   shall   sit 

upon  the  ground. 

The  tist  of  parallelism  sliows  in  this  strojilie  the  following 

facts:  aiKitlier  enallage   (third  person,  instead  of  the  second  as 

in  verse  2."),  wliicli  itself  contains  a  change  from  verse  24)  ;  the 

[  354  ] 


rarallilism   in   Istiioh,  Chapt'is   1-10  2!»9 

I'lIAl'TEK   3 

intnuliu'tiim  of  tlic  word  "■tratrs."  not  only  without  a  parallel 
in  stirhos  1>,  but  obsi-uriiif;  tlii'  personifii-atioii  (Ziou  as  a  woman) 
apparently  intondcil  in  vcrsi'  24  and  certainly  present  apain  in 
stichos  'JGb;  the  jiresenee  of  two  synonyms  for  "mourn"  in  26a, 
paralleled  perluips  by  a  participle  and  a  finite  verb  in  b,  but  the 
parallelism  as  well  as  the  motaplior  obscured.  That  these  arc 
real  difficulties  is  shown  by  the  versions:  the  Septuagint  changes 
the  third  person  to  the  second,  has  a  dilTercnt  (though  even  less 
appropriate)  term  in  place  of  "gates,"  and  translates,  for 
"purged"  or  "emptied,"  "left  alone"  (the  English  luus  "deso- 
late") ;  the  Targum  attempts  to  adjust  the  personification  by 
translating  "the  gates  of  her  city";  the  English,  by  setting  off 
the  pronoun  "she"  in  an  emphatic  and  contrasting  position  to 
"gates."  allows  a  double  metaphor  which  to  some  degree  glos.ses 
over  the  Hebrew  difficidty.  That  the  English  here  expresses 
what  should  be  expected  in  Hebrew  becomes  clear  from  a  com- 
parison with  Jer.  14.2:  "Judah  mourneth,  and  the  gates  thereof 
languish ;  they  are  black  unto  the  ground ;  and  the  cry  of  Jeru- 
salem is  gone  up":  i.e.,  change  in  the  syntactic  form  of  the  last 
predicate  retpiires  a  new  and  expres-sed  subject.  Here  then 
we  should  expect :  "Ziou  shall  lament,  and  her  gates  shall  mourn, 
and  .leru.salem  shall  sit  di.scon.solate  upon  the  ground":  cf.  Is, 
19. .S,  where  the  same  verbs  as  in  26a  occur  (distributed)  in  a 
three  line  strophe:  "the  fishers  al.so  shall  mourn,  and  they  that 
angle  shall  lament,  and  they  that  spread  the  net  shall  languish." 
But  there  is  here  another  pixssibility :  aside  from  .syntax, 
"gates"  in  the  first  stichos  is  a  thought  parallel  to  "ground" 
in  the  second:  so  Targum  makes  "ground"  the  subject  of  the 
sentence;  moreover,  pethuy^  is  rather  "doorway,"  "door"  of  a 
house  than  •"gates"  of  a  city  (Is.  13.2  is  too  obscure  to  be  offered 
in  support  of  Isaiah's  usage  of  pi  Ihux^  ;  but  whether  door  or  gate, 
the  couplt>t  may  have  been:  "and  she  (Zion)  shall  mourn  and 
lament  at  her  doorway,  and  sit  di.scon.solate  upon  the  ground" 
(or  the  second  person  is  to  be  read  throughout).  Of  course, 
"the  pates  shall  lament"  means  the  .same  thing;  the  objection  i.s 
to  the  involved  metaphor  and  slipshod  syntax. 

[  3r,r.  ] 


;!()()  PuraUdism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chaptek  3 
Niqqdtha,  English  "desolate,"  is  a  fairly  common  word  frcmi 
a  very  common  root;  it  means  "purged,"  "freed  from  punish- 
ment," "exempted  from  obligation,"  "restored  to  innocency." 
Perhaps  primitively  the  root  meant  "be  empty,"  and  Isaiah 
may  well  be  credited  with  a  consciousness  of  this  primitive  mean- 
ing ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  he  used  it  with  entire  disregard  of 
what  its  connotation  must  have  been  to  his  audience,  especially 
since  there  is  no  parallel  term  to  make  clear  the  unusual  inten- 
tion. There  might,  perhaps,  be  found  here  another  grim  double 
or  triple  meaning:  Zion  "]nirified""  through  punishment  and 
grief;  "emptied"  of  her  men;  "divested"  of  her  ornaments. 
But  the  reference  to  innocence  is  as  out  of  place  as  it  is  inevitable 
in  the  present  reading.  Some  word  is  required  parallel  to 
"  mi  ill  in  '  and  applicable  to  Zion  both  as  a  city  and  as  a  woman; 
l)evliai)s  iiixi'iftd,  literally  ".shattered"  and  figuratively  "con- 
founded," "dismayed,"  "abashed";  said  of  nations  under 
divine  j\;dgment,  of  the  grox;nd,  of  people ;  ef.  Is.  20.5,  where 
this  verb  is  used  with  hdshfi.  "be  ashamed,"  which  in  turn  in 
19.9  is  in  the  scries:  "nimirn."  "lament,"  "languish,"  "be 
confounded,"  "lie  broken." 


Chapter  4 

1.    (a)   Ami  iji  tliat  day  seven  women  sliall  take  lioM  of  one  man. 
saying,    (b)    We   will   eat    our    own    lirea.l,    (e)    ami    wear    our    own 
apparel;   (d)   ouly  let  us  be  called  by  thy  name,  (e)   take  aivay  our 
reproach. 
This  vci'.se  belongs  in  tliougiit  witii  chapter  3  rather  than  with 
what  follows  here;  its  tlimif  is  still  tlic  dearth  of  men.      But  in 
method  of  presentation  it  differs  from  the  last  verse  of  the  pre- 
ceding, in  which  Jerusalem  is  personified,  and  attaches  to  the 
.still  earlier  picture  of  the  fate  of  the  individual  women   (3.16). 
Prom    aiiiither    viewpoint,   however,    it   resembles   more    clearly 
3.6;  tlicrc  till'  rulership  goes  begging;  here  wifehood  goes  beg- 
ging; and  even  the  phraseology   ("seizing  hold,"  "garments," 
"food")    is  echoed.      But  the  full  development  of  the  picture 
there,  with  its  introdTietion  leading  to  the  climax,  and  its  answer 


[  .3.50  ] 


l'(irull<lism   in   l.snioh,  Cliapt,  rs   l-lo  :;()! 

on  till'  part  of  tlic  man  to  whom  tli<'  nili'  is  olViivd.  has  no  coiiii- 
tcrpart  hi-rc;  and  the  I'om-lusion  is  accorditi^'ly  sutifjcsli-d  tliat 
4.1  is  a  mere  fratrincnt.  owin^  its  ini-hision  hon-  to  its  refeivni-c  to 
woiiu-n.  Thi-  iiist'i-tioM  of  the  \v(jnls  "on  tinit  day"  (licre  not 
as  in  tiio  Kiijilish  and  as  is  usual,  at  the  iioud  of  the  sentcnee, 
hut  at  tiic  end)  also  points  to  a  separation  from  what  immedi- 
ately preeedes;  thow^'h  it  may  he  editorial,  since  it  is  not  found 
in  the  Seittuajrint. 

More  sijriiifieant  is  the  faet  that  stiehos  a,  introduein<r  the 
following'  (pnitrain,  is  not  in  parallelistie  formation.  There  is 
no  indieation,  it  is  true,  of  what  form  a  possible  orifrinal  par- 
allelism uuiy  have  had;  the  sentenee  is  eomplete  in  itself.  It 
uuiy  well  he  that  the  parallelism  was  strophie  rather  than  stiehie; 
that  another  stroi)he.  with  a  similar  siiifrle  stiehos  as  introduc- 
tion, halaneed  this  one.  But  the  mere  faet  that  the  sense  is 
eomplete,  is  in  itsi-lf  no  proof  that  there  was  not  originally 
stiehos  |)arallelism.  Notiee  in  chapter  :].6  that  the  sentenee 
"For  each  one  shall  take  hold  of  his  brother"  makes  completi- 
sense;  lunl  that  if  the  parallels  in  verses  A-7i.  as  well  as  6b,  had 
l)y  aeeideiit  been  lost,  there  would  have  resulted  a  stanza  as 
eomjilete  lus  is  our  present  one ;  only  the  inferences  of  the  dom- 
inating parallelisin  elsewhere  would  have  suggested  their  loss. 

In  stiehoi  d  and  c  the  parallelism  between  "luime"  aiul 
"reproach"  is  close  because  of  the  connotations  of  these  terms; 
the  former  sometimes  means  "honor,"  "fame,"  especially  tiuit 
due  to  having  sons  (e.g.,  11  Sam.  IS.S).  and  is  theri'fore  the 
opp(xsite  of  the  latter,  "di.sgrace,"  "shame,"  "dishonor";  prac- 
tically then  here;  "(iive  us  honor,  removi-  our  hoiuirlessne.ss" 
(that  of  widowhood  and  childle.ssiie.ss-;  cf.,  e.g..  Is.  54. .'i:  "thou 
shalt  not  remember  the  reproach  of  thy  widowhood;  for  thy 
.Mak.-r  is  thine  hu.sband";  Cen.  30.2:i :  "And  she  [Rachel]  con- 
c'ived,  and  bare  a  son;  and  said,  (lod  hath  taken  away  my 
reproach"). 


[  3.->7  I 


302  Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  i 

2.  (a)  In  that  day  shall  the  branch  (lit.  "sprout,"  "gro«-th") 
of  the  Lord  be  beautiful  and  glorious,  (b)  and  the  fruit  of  tlie  earth 
(shall  be)  excellent  and  comely,  (e)  for  them  (that  are)  escaped  of 
Israel. 
The  strophic  formation  in  the  prophecy  contained  in  verses 
2-6  is  unusual.  In  this  first  stanza  (verse  2)  the  stichoi  a  and  b 
are  in  normal  parallelism;  but  the  third  stichos,  li-plfletath 
Yisrd'el:  "for  the  escaped  of  Israel."  is  a  dependent  phrase, 
standing  outside  the  parallelism,  and  modifj'ing  either  or  both 
of  the  stichoi  a  and  b.  Moreover,  it  would  seem  that  it  is  a 
uecessarj'  part  of  those  sentences,  that  a  and  b  are  not  logically 
complete  without  it ;  this  fact  is  obscured  by  the  English,  which 
in  translating  li-c'^bhi  fil<^-khdhhddh  (lit.  "for  a  beauty  and  a 
glory")  "beautiful  and  glorious"  interprets  the  preposition  as 
in  1.5:  "to"  or  "for  sickness,"  i.e.,  "sick."  Such  a  trauslation 
here,  "beautiful,"  is  very  seductive;  but  the  idiomatic  phrase 
"be  for  a  glorj', "  or  "beauty,"  in  Hebrew  seems  always  to  be 
followed  by  another  dative  (indirect  object)  in  the  sense:  "be 
a  distinguishing  mark  for  someone  or  something,"  "that  which 
distinguishes  him  in  beauty  or  honor  from  all  others"  (cf.  Ex. 
28.2,  40;  Ezek.  20.6,  15;  Jer.  13.11).  The  underlying  verse  form 
in  this  first  stanza  would  then  be  the  so-called  qlnd  strophe :  a 
sentence  divided  into  two  unequal  parts  by  the  caesura,  which 
parts  are  not  of  necessity  parallel  or  syntactically  independent; 
i.e.,  omitting  for  the  moment  2b:  "In  that  day  shall  the  branch 
of  the  Lord  be  for  beauty  and  glory — for  the  escaped  of  Israel." 
But  the  first  portion  of  the  line  in  the  present  instance  is  doubled 
by  means  of  parallelism;  such  parallelism,  within  the  syntactic 
structure,  might  be  called  "suspensive  parallelism";  cf.  5.24. 
To  a  certain  extent  the  same  scheme  predominates  through  this 
whole  prophecy;  with  this  difference,  that  the  modifying  phrase 
also  is  doubled  by  parallelism.  The  middle  stanza  (verse  4) 
shows  this  formation  best :  the  washing  of  the  filth  and  blood  of 
Zion  is  expi-essed  in  a  couplet;  then  the  instrument  or  means  of 
washing  is  described  in  another  shorter,  dependent  couplet;  the 
parallelism  in  this  stanza  is  then  perfect,  and  the  question  is 
accordingly  raised   whether  there   is  not   missing  from  verse  2 

[  3.58  ] 


rural!,  liiiii   in   Isaitih.  Ch.ipt.rs   I-IO 


11  parallfl  to  •"tin-  fscain'tl  of  Israol"  -a  i|iicslioii  wliii'li  pi-rliaps 
ri'ei'ivts  its  aiis\v>  r  in  tlif  snpi  rtliioiis  slidios  of  llic  mxt  stroplir 
(vtM"si'  3). 

Tlif  parnllflisiii  in  I'a  ami  b  botwi'i'ii  •■liraiu'ii  of  tiu'  Lord" 
ami  "fruit  of  the  oartli"  is  striking;  one  would  expect,  pcrliaps, 
for  "tlu-  Lord"  eitlier  "tlie  field,"  has-sddke  or  "tiic  ground," 
hu'"dhum(i  (Gen.  19.25;  Ezek.  16.7).  But  evidently  the  parallel 
lui'iirti;  means  here  not  "the  earth,"  but  "the  land,"  i.e.,  Pales- 
tine (as  is  elearly  shown  by  the  words  Zion  and  Jerusalem), 
God's  own  land.  There  may  still  inhere  in  the  phra.sc  something 
of  the  Semitie  phra.se  "field,  ete.,  of  Biuil,"  with  Yahwe  substi- 
tutid  for  Haal ;  even  though  there  be  no  ncecssity  of  insisting 
on  the  implication  "naturally  watered"  fields  and  plants  as  eon- 
tnisttd  with  those  watered  by  irrigation.  At  any  rate  Ps.  104. l(i 
provides  a  similar  interesting  parallelism:  "the  trees  of  the  Lord 
are  full  (of  s<ip),  the  eedars  of  Lebanon  which  he  hath  planted." 
On  the  thought  of  the  fertility  of  the  Messianic  period  compare 
Is.  55.12,  13:  "all  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap  their  hands; 
instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir  tree;  and  instead  of 
the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle  tree;  and  it  shall  be  to  the 
Lord  for  a  name,"  etc.  (ef.  "to  the  remnant  of  Israel  for  a 
glory").  The  parallelism  would  seem  to  preclude  here  any 
reference  in  {eiiMx,  "sprout,"  to  »  personal  Messiah;  contrast 
Jer.  23.5,  where  such  a  reference  does  exist,  but  both  parallelism 
aiifl  elaboration  are  properly  felt  necessary  to  make  it  clear; 
of  course,  in  a  still  later  period  such  phra.ses  might  have  in  them- 
selves had  a  fixed,  conventicmal  Messianic  implication. 

3.   (n)   And  it  shnll  rnnir  to  pn.-<a   (tlint  he)   that  is  left  in  Zioii 
(b)  anil   (ho  that)  rcnminoth  in  Jcru.saloni   (c)  shall  Im-  called  holy, 
(il)   (even)  every  one  that  i.s  written  anione  the  living  in  Jerusalem. 
It   can   hardly   be  doubted   that    the   strophic   structure   de- 
scribed above  is  intended  in  this  verse;  "shall  be  called  holy" 
is  the   predieati-   to  the  double  subject   contained    in   stiehoi   a 
and  b.      But  stiehos  d,  "every  one  that   is  written  among  the 
living  in  Jerusahm."  placed  after  the  predicate,  is  parallel  in 
tliought  to  stiehoi  a  and  b,  though  not  even  the  English  insertion 


304  Parol  Id  isui   m  Isaiah.  Chapters  !-]() 

Chapter  -1 

of  "cvi'ii"  bcfoi'e  it  saves  it  from  awkwardiu'ss  in  its  present 
position;  it  is  not  good  prose,  still  less  good  poetry;  it  has  the 
sound  of  a  carelessly  appended  afterthought,  and  its  repetition 
of  "Jerusalem"  seems  to  place  a  special  emphasis  on  that  word, 
in  contrast  to  the  other  parallel  "Zion"  in  stichos  a — au  em- 
phasis that  is  evidently  not  intended.  The  style  is  so  awkward, 
indeed,  that  Septuagint  and  Targum  both  failed  to  see  the  true 
syntactic  relationship;  Targum  (also  Jewish  commeutators) 
reads  eacJi  stichos  as  a  separate  proposition:  i.e..  those  that 
are  left  (shall  dwell  in  Zion)  ;  those  that  veniain  sliall  inhabit 
Jerusalem;  they  shall  be  called  IkiIv;  and  those  tliat  are  written 
for  life  shall  dwell  in  Jerusalem. 

One  of  two  opinions  may  be  held  iu  regard  to  stichos  d: 
either  that  tests  of  style  must  not  be  applied  iu  textual  criticism 
of  Hebrew,  or  that  stichos  d  is  misplaced.  If  the  latter  alterna- 
tive be  iid.ipled,  it  slirmld  be  noted  tliat  the  phrase  is  a  parallel 
(■(lually  .uood,  to  stiebos  e  in  tlii'  previous  stanza,  "them  that 
are  escajied  of  Israel";  perhaps  "Jerusalem,"  moreover,  is  a 
slip  for  "Judah."  parallel  to  "Israi'l"  (see  above).  It  becomes 
just  as  evident,  then,  that  stirlios  d  in  verse  -3  has  taken  the 
place  of  a  real  parallel  to  stielios  <■  -.  "shall  be  called  holy,"  e.g.. 
shfiii  '"tlhoHai  inqqarf  'dlilir:  "shall  be  called  by  tlie  name  of 
the  Lord,"  as  in  I)i-ut.  12S.1(I.  a  passage  in  eluse  eoiineetion.  as 
in  this  (iiie,  with  a  description  of  the  fertility  of  Israel's  jn-om- 
ised  land:  on  the  jiroposed  i^arallelism  eomjiare  Is.  61.6:  "But 
ye  shall  be  named  the  jn-iests  of  the  Lord:  ministers  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  ealhd  to  yon":  (i'_M2:  "and  they  shall  call  them  people 

4.   (a)   Wlien  the  Lord  shall  have  washed  away  the  filth  of  the 

daughters  of  Zion,    (b)   and  shall  have  purged    (lit.   "rinsed")    the 

blood   of  Jerusalem   from   the   midst   thereof,    (c)    by   the   spirit   of 

judgment,  (d)  and  by  the  spirit  of  burning. 

On  the  form  of  the  stanza,  see  the  comment  on  verse  2,  above. 

The  personification  of  Jerusalem  is  stiebos  b  indicates  an  error 

in  the  text  of  a,  where  "daughters  of,"  h'nnth.  should  either  be 

omitted  or  be  read  halh.  "dauuhter  of"  Zion:  i.e..  Zion  herself: 


I'dnill.lisni   ill   Isiiiiih,  Cluiptus    1-tO  .W^i 

ClIAl'TKK    4 

tilis  ulom-  (its  tlu'  siqiifl,  iiuinoviT;  tli.>  error  is  one  thu-  to  asso- 
ciation with  3.7. 

All  intcristiii';  (iiustioii  ol"  style  and  |iaiiiilelisiii  is  involved  in 
the  metaphor  used  here.  The  phra.se  for  "wash  away  the  tilth" 
used  here  is  not  a  trite,  eonveutional  one;  and  the  ii-rure  is  enliv- 
eueil  in  its  freshness  and  vividne.ss  by  the  parallel  in  li,  "rinse,"' 
Hthlhh'x,  whieh  oecurs  ajrain  only  in  Ezek.  40.38;  II  Chron. 
4.G  U>'>tl>  literally),  and  Jer.  r)l.:54  (tifiuratively,  but  possibly  an 
error  there;  so  A.  V.  "ea.st  out").  Somewhat  eurious,  then, 
is  the  means  of  washing:  "the  spirit  of  jud-rment  \n't<'\  mishpdt], 
and  the  spirit  of  dcstruetion."  Ii!i'i<'x  niishpat  occurs  in  28.6: 
"The  Lord  of  hosts  shall  be .  . .  for  a  spirit  of  judprment  [i.e., 
justice]  to  him  that  sitteth  in  jud^'mcut" — an  idea  neither 
appropriate  to  the  general  context  here  nor  sup|)orted  by  the; 
inuneiliate  parallelism  with  "spirit  of  destruction."  In  verse  5 
the  ch)ud  and  lijrhtnin};  are  definitely  mentioned,  and  then  the 
divine  presence  is  represented  as  a  refu<re  (for  those  who  escape) 
from  the  rioodinfr  storm-rains;  perhajis.  too,  it  is  the  storm  itself 
whieh  is  to  result  in  the  richness  of  trrowth  predicted  in  verse  2. 
Evidently  nCy.  then,  in  vei-se  4  is  an  elenu-nt  in  the  theophanie 
storm.  Kashi  interprets:  "he  rides  upon  the  wind  to  jiul^e 
them";  but  30.28  offers  a  better  explanation  of  the  imajrery, 
if  our  text  is  correct:  "his  breath,  n'i"x,  is  like  an  overflowing 
stream."  It  seems  quite  probable,  however,  that  the  fii-st  ru"x 
(stichas  f)  is  an  error  due  to  the  second  (stichos  d)  ;  and  that  a 
noun  fittintr  better  with  thi-  verb  "rinse"  stood  here  orifrinally 
and  foniied  a  transition  to  the  parallel  "wind  of  destruction," 
or  bitter,  "of  burninjr."  whose  heat  is  perhaps  referred  to  in 
verse  6  (cf.  also  passibly  11.15,  bu' tjnm  n'ix''>:  "with  the  heat 
[?  the  versions  have  "might")  of  his  spirit"  or  "wind"). 
Parallel  to  riV'x  in  this  sen.se  occurs  in  another  picture  of  the 
storm,  zirim,  "tempest."  32.2;  and  the  ((ualifying  word  in  place 
of  mkhpiit,  parallel  to  biVir.  might  be  shnU'ph.  On  the  whole 
picture  compare  Is.  28.2:  "Bi-hold  the  Lonl  hath  a  mighty  and 
strong  one,  as  a  tempest  of  hail  and  a  destroying  storm,  as  a 
fl.M.d  of  mighty  water  ov.-rtlowing" ;  2S.17.  IS:  "hail  sitall  sweep 

[301] 


306  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  i 

away  the  refuge  of  lies,  shall  overflow  the  hiding  place ; .  .  .  when 
the  overflowing  scourge  shall  pass  through."  Compare  also  the 
parallelism  in  Ezek.  13.13,  for  instance:  "I  will  rend  it  with  a 
stormy  wind  [ru"x  s^'droth]  and  there  shall  be  an  overflowing 
shower  [gesheni  shotef]  in  mine  anger."  If  the  present  prophecy 
is  Isaianic,  it  would  be  peculiar,  then,  if  just  at  the  point  where 
the  words  "wash"  and  "rinse"  would  lead  one  to  find  a  refer- 
ence to  the  destroying  flood,  such  a  reference  should  be  lacking! 

5.  (a)  And  the  Lord  will  create  upou  every  dwelling  place  of 
Mount  Zion,  (b)  and  upon  her  assemblies,  (c)  a  cloud  and  smoke 
by  day,  (d)  and  the  shining  of  a  flaming  fire  by  night. 

Again  there  can  be  no  mistaking  the  nature  of  the  stanza 
formation:  a  couplet  of  parallel  stichoi,  followed  by  another 
couplet,  not  syntactically  complete  in  itself.  In  the  first  couplet, 
however,  the  first  stiehos  is  overlong,  the  second  very  short ;  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  in  the  phrase  kol  m^khon  har  Qhjon,  "the  whole 
site  [A.  V.  "every  dwelling  place"]  of  Mount  Zion,"  m^hhon 
is  redundant:  "upon  the  whole  of  Moiuit  Zion"  is  perfectly 
normal,  while  in  stiehos  b  yniqrd'ehd,  "her  assemblies,"  as  can 
be  seen  from  1.14,  Ex.  12.16 ;  Lev.  23.4,  etc. ;  Num.  28.18,  is  a  noun 
of  action,  or  a  time  noun,  before  which  one  might  naturally 
expect  such  a  word  as  mekhon,  "site  of,"  or  "place  of."  That 
the  Septuagiut  felt  the  need  of  greater  length  is  shown  by  the 
insertion  of  "all"  again;  but  for  miqrd'ehd  it  read  7repiKVK\co; 
if  this  is  mighrdshehd,  "all  her  surrounding  territories,"  it  per- 
haps points  to  an  original  miqdashekd  or  miqddshdh,  "her  sanc- 
tuary"; the  latter  appears  in  the  Targum  translation  of  the  first 
stiehos,  while  for  miqrd'ehd  it  reads:  '"thar  heth  sh^kinto,  pos- 
sibly "place  of  his  sanctuary"  (Heb.  m'^qom  miqMshd).  Tliis 
may  or  may  not  represent  an  uncertainty  in  the  text ;  at  the  least 
it  indicates  an  unconscious  attempt  at  glossing  over  the  stylistic 
defects  pointed  out.  For  a  phrase  mfikhon  miqrd'ehd,  "site  of 
her  assemblings,"  compare  m'-hhrm  shihhtd,  "place  of  his  dwell- 
ing" in  Ps.  33.14. 

Another  possibility  is  that  in  the  almost  unintelligible  clause 
appended  to  this  stanza,  kl  ' al  kol  kdhhod  x'ippd:  "for  upon  all 

[362] 


I'anill'lism   in   Isnuih,  Chapt,  rs   1-10  '.Wt 

Cll.WTEK   4 

tlu'  jil.iry  slmll  In-  a  (li-f.-iKr"  {\\\.  a  ••i-aiiopy.'"  (ir  ••cliaiiilier"). 
(lio  phnisi-  ■<!/  kol  kabhod  rciircsfiits  part  of  a  variuiit  to  stichos 
b,  which  is  to  be  read:  "and  upon  all  lior  assoinblies  (or 
sani'tuaiN  )  is  his  >rlory";  the  word  "frlory"  in  a  thi'ophanic 
I'oiuuH'tion  is  most  apt  to  n-tVr  to  Yjiliwt' — is,  in  fact,  a  synonym- 
and  it  is  (piitt'  likely  that  in  tlu'  present  prophecy,  as  in  other 
tlieophanies,  it  is  God  himself  who  appeal's  as,  or  in.  the  eioiul ; 
compare  Is.  60.2:  "The  Lord  shall  arise  upon  tiiee.  and  his 
glory  be  seen  upon  thee,"  il-kh'bhodhu  'iiUiyikh  jjfrCi'c;  this 
would  neci>ssitate  reading  in  stichos  a  for  u-bhdriV  some  word  like 
W-nir'd  ("and  shall  appear,"  instead  of  "and  shall  create"; 
the  Septuagint  read  tt-bhii',  "and  shall  come";  bard',  indeed,  is 
.striking;  though  used  in  the  latter  part  of  Isaiah,  its  objects  are 
such  tliat  it  may  well  be  translated  "shape"  or  "fashion,"  or 
"to  fashion,  create  anew,  transform"),  and  to  treat  stichoi  c  and 
d  as  vague  appositions:  (!od  will  apjiear  (as)  a  cloud;  or  ir;ul 
"in  a  I'ioud." 

In  stichos  c  the  order  of  words  in  the  Hebrew  is  "a  cloud  by 
day  and  smoke";  so  that  "and  smoke"  is  joined  by  the  versions 
to  the  next  clau.se  (d),  which  would  make  c  very  short:  but 
both  Septuagint  and  Targuni  insert  the  etpiivalent  of  the  Hebrew 
word  mf<;dl,  "shadowing,"  with  "cloud."  This  denotes,  per- 
haps, merely  that  a  feeling  for  balance  led  to  its  insertion  in 
the  versions,  as  parallel  to  "flaming,"  which  modifies  "fire,"  in 
the  ne.xt  stichas.  Quite  ptxssibly,  however,  it  was  due  to  a  mar- 
ginal variant  of  u"-'d.ihdn,  "and  smoke,"  e.g.,  ye'shan  or  'dsht'n 
("smoking"),  belonging  after  "cloud":  "a  smoking  cloud  by 
day,  and  a  flaming  fire  by  night." 

3-6.   (5<>)    For  upon  all  the  glory   (shall   bo:    Heb.   no   verb,  i.e., 

"is")  a  defence,     (tin)   Ami  there  shall  l>e  a  tabernacle   (b)    for  a 

shallow   in   the   ilaytime   from   the   heat    (c)    and    for   a    (place   of) 

ri'filue  and  for  a  covert  from  storm  and  from  rain. 

Though   the   beginning   of   this  stanz)t    is   most   awkwardly 

worded,   the  end  seems  to  show  the  .same  construction   as  the 

previous  part  of  the  prophecy:  a  couplet  (or  here  a  triplet)  in 

parallelism,  but  the  stichoi  not  syntactically  independent. 


I  3«3 


308  Panillclisiii   in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  4 

For  the  bufiiuiiiiiK  of  thu  stanza  parallelism  seems  indicated 
in  the  words  "canopj^"  (5e)  and  "tabernacle"'  (6a).  The 
former  word  occurs  again  only  in  Ps.  19.6;  Josh.  2.16.  ajjpar- 
ently  meaning  "chamber";  the  root  occurs,  however,  in  a 
significant  passage,  De\it.  33.12:  x'^P^ftph  'uldw:  "(the  Lord) 
shall  cover  him":  such  a  verb  is  indeed  read  by  the  Septuagint 
(aK€7TaaO)']aeTai)  :  i.e.,  !/dx<'>ph  or  (from  the  cognate  root)  yexpc. 
But  while  the  meaning  of  tliis  couplet  is  clear,  in  its  present 
form  it  is  much  mutilati-d.  If  the  phrase  "for  upon  all  glory" 
is  not  to  be  disposed  of  as  above  suggested,  we  might  read:  kT 
'al  kiilkih   k'^hhodho  ydxdph,   ic'^-sukka   iihij!:    (add   (jh^-' fithdl)  : 

Yea,  all  of  her  his  glory  shall  eover, 

And  a  tabernacle  shall  (there,  it;  or  insert  "his  majesty'"  or  "over 
her ' ' )  be. 

For  this  thought,  compare  Is.  60.2,  cited  above;  Ps.  57.6:  "thy 
glory  is  over  all  the  earth";  Ex.  24.16:  "and  the  glory 
{kh<'bhndh)  of  the  Lord  abode  upon  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  cloud 
covered  it";  for  "tabernacle,"  sukka,  as  the  equivalent  of  the 
cloud  in  which  God  appears:  II  Sam.  22.12,  "He  was  seen  upon 
the  wings  of  the  wind;  he  made  darkness  pavilions  (sukkdth) 
round  about  him,  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds."  And  for  the 
thought  of  God"s  glory,  i.e..  God  himself,  as  the  refuge  from  the 
storm,  compare  Is.  25.4:  "For  thou  hast  been  a  strength  to  the 
poor,  a  strength  to  the  needy  in  his  distress;  a  refuge  from  the 
storm,  a  shadow  from  the  heat." 

The  simple  parallelism  at  the  end  of  this  last  passage  {maxs' 
mk-zerem  gel  me-xdrrbh)  suggests  that  our  closing  couplet  6b,  c 
probably  also  was  originally  as  simple;  i.e.,  exactlj'  like  the  cor- 
responding member  of  tlie  other  stanzas.  The  word  iifnnCun. 
"in  the  day-time,"  is  omitted  by  tlie  Septuagint;  it  may  be 
either  simple  dittograpliy  from  verse  5 ;  or  it  may  wath  ulf-niistor, 
"and  for  a  covert,"  represent  the  distorted  missing  portions  of 
the  first  couplet  of  this  stanza.  Mistor  in  itself,  though  super- 
fluous, is  not  objectionable;  but  indtdr,  "rain,"  after  zerem, 
"flood,"  is  remarkably  weak  and  anticlimaetic :  wnUlr  occurs 
often  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  always  as  a  symbol  of  blessing 


[  3r>4 


I'linilhlism   ill   Isaiiih.  (•Iuit>l>rs   1-10  .U)!) 

I'llU-TF.K    4 

atiii  ri'ri-islmii  lit.  invir  itt  (listniiMioii ;  I'mv.  liS.:{,  which  mif^ht 
bo  thi'  appaiTiit  fXi-fjJtioii,  in  reality  shows  the  imrmal  use  of 
the  word;  the  kiiijr,  who  is  expeeted  to  lie  the  ehainpioii  of  the 
poor  (ef.  72.1),  luit  who  instead  op|)resses  them,  is  likened  to  u 
lain  (beeaiise  the  rain  is  expeeted  to  hrinj;;  hiessinffs)  whieh  pros- 
trates, so^iph,  the  <rrain  and  l)rin<rs  no  food;  i.e..  infitdr  receives 
its  special  mtanin<r  there  cntin  ly  from  its  essential  modifier 
si'iy'ph.     Head  then  liere  : 

Ki.r  :i  slindow  from  the  licat, 
Ami   for  a  refuge  from  the  storm. 

Kiindly,  there  is  tiic  possibility  that  the  prophecy  ended  orig- 
inally with  the  word  Uty'lu,  "nipht."  in  verse  n ;  and  that  tlie 
remainder  represents  annotations  based  on  the  pa.ssafres  ipioted 
in  tin-  course  of  this  discussion. 


C'llAI'TKR   ;) 

1.   (a)  Now  will  I  sing  to  my  beloved   (b)  a  song  of  my  beloved 
touching  his  vineyard,      (e)    My  beloved  hath   a  vineyard    (d)    in   a 
very  fruitful  hill. 
The  prevailing  type  of  line  found  in  verses  1-7  is  one  char- 
acterized by  a  distinct  caesura;  in  some  eases  one  portion  of  the 
line  is  loiifrer  than  the  other;  in  most  eases  the  second  jiortion 
of  the  line  is  also  in  .some  degree  of  parallelism  with  the  first 
portion,  and  in  a  few,  in  complete  parallelism. 

Even  in  the  first  line  the  first  portion,  "Now  will  1  sinpr  to 
my  beloved,"  may  be  considered  jus  syntactically  complete  in 
itself;  compare  Ps.  13.6:  "I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  because  he 
hath  dealt  bountifully  with  me";  or  5)6.2:  "Sing  unto  the  Lord, 
bli.ss  his  name";  and  so  the  verb  "sing"  is  often  used  without 
any  object.  Accordingly,  the  portion  of  the  line  after  the 
caesura,  "a  .song  of  my  beloved  touching  his  vineyard,"  might 
\w  considered  as  a  parallel  to  the  first  part,  a  eoginite  accusa- 
tive, "song,"  being  u.sed  instead  of  an  appositional  finite  verb 
•'I  will  sing";  and  the  whole  line  might  thus  be  considered  a 
parallelistie  couplet   of  the   incremental   type    (ef.   the  Song  of 


.irw  J 


310  Faralh'lisin  iii  haiali.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  5 

Deborah,  Judges  5.3:  "I  to  the  Lord,  I  will  siiii;':  I  will  chant 

to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel"). 

In  the  second  line  (c,  d)  "my  beloved  hath  a  vineyard" 
might  again  be  a  syntactically  complete  proposition;  but  the 
portion  d,  as  tlie  text  stands,  can  in  no  way  be  considered  par- 
alh'l  to  any  word  in  e ;  nor  has  tlie  line  as  a  whole  an.y  parallel. 

This  verse,  however,  is  not  without  its  difficulties  for  trans- 
lators and  commentators.  In  stichos  b,  "a  song  of  my  beloved 
touching  his  vineyard"  means  "the  song  sung  by  my  beloved 
touching  [or  perhaps  'to']  his  vineyard";  for  if  "my  beloved" 
were  an  objective  genitive  the  text  would  of  necessity  be  shirath 
dodhi  wr-kharmo:  "the  song  of  my  beloved  and  his  vineyard"; 
or  the  same  tliought  might  possibly  be  expressed  tlius:  shJnl 
l'-dho(Un  )(■'  -khariiid:  "a  song  concerning  my  friend  and  his 
vineyard."  A  subjective  genitive  does  not  suit  the  context; 
stichos  a  means  cither  "I  will  sing  to  my  beloved"  or  "I  will 
sing  concerning  my  beloved"  (or  it  means  both  at  the  same  time, 
as  it  seems  to  mean  generally  in  the  frequent  phrase  "sing  If- 
Tahwp:  "sing  to  and  of  the  Lord")  ;  and  oue  does  not  sing  to 
a  beloved  the  beloved's  own  song;  nor,  indeed,  is  the  song  that 
follows  the  beloved's  song,  but  a  song  concerning  the  beloved's 
viiun-ard. 

A  very  simple  change  {dodJuni:  for  dodhl)  yields  this  sen- 
tence: "I  will  sing  now  tii  (and  'of')  my  beloved,  the  song  of 
his  love  for  his  vineyard";  tliis.  howi'ver.  introduces  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  references  in  "love"  and  "beloved,"  making 
oue  refer  to  the  singer's  beloved,  the  other  to  the  beloved's  love 
for  his  vineyard.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  the  word  "beloved" 
that  is  most  difficult  to  explain  in  this  passage;  its  casual  use  by 
tlie  Prcjpliet  in  the  sense  of  "my  friend"  would  be  strange,  and 
the  strangeness  would  be  much  increased  by  the  fact  tliat  it 
seems  to  occur  here  in  an  allegory  and  to  refer  to  Yahwe.  Such 
a  use  of  the  term,  if  possible  at  all.  would  certainly  reipiire  that 
in  the  identification  (verse  7)  of  the  characters  in  the  parable 
it  also  should  be  explained.  But  the  concealment  of  the  fact 
that   Yahwe  is  the  owner  of  the  vineyard  is  not   at  all  an   im- 

[366] 


l',ii;ill,lis,„   in   Isaiah.  Chaiil.rs    t-U)  WW 

ClIAI'TKK    ."i 

])i>rtaiit  rli'iiii'iit  ill  tlir  paralili':  it  is  (ir(i|ip<'il  witliiiiit  i-oiiiiiu-iit 
ill  vi'i-si'  :{,  lU-spitf  till'  fai't  tliat  '"bcldvcd"  is  used  tliivc  tiiiii's 
ill  till-  iiitnuhiftioii — a  ri-pctitioii  that  must  In-  takiii  as  iiiilii-a- 
tivi'  of  aiUli'd  fiiii)liasis  upon  the  word. 

And.  iiidfcd,  tin-  idea  of  love  is  tin-  iinportant  one  in  the  par- 
al)K':  but  it  is  not  tliat  of  the  siniLrt'r's  love  for  the  Loi\l,  or  vice 
v«i-sa:  it  is  tin-  Lord's  love  for  Ills  vineyard.  The  word  "be- 
loved." ifdh'uihi,  expros.sos  just  tliat  idea  wherever  it  occurs 
in  the  Psalms  and  elsewiiere  in  passages  referrin«r  to  the  Lord; 
thus  Deut.  '.Vi:l,  "lienjamin  is  God's  beloved;  the  Lord  shall 
cover  him  all  the  day";  in  Jer.  12.7tT.  Israel  is  tiie  "dearly 
beloved  of  my  (Uod's]  soul,  my  heritage,  »i,i/  rincyarfl."  If  in 
the  present  pa.ssage  sticiios  la  stood  by  itself  the  natural  inter- 
pretation would  then  be:  "I  will  sing  now  of  my  beloved  "  and 
the  seipiel  would  show  clearly  that,  as  is  usual,  the  Prophet  is 
identifying  himself  with  the  voice  of  God,  and  that  "the  be- 
lovetl"  is  his,  i.e.,  God's,  vineyard,  on  wiiich  he  has  lavished  his 
loving  e;iie  (tlie  enallage  to  the  third  pei-son  in  verse  2,  "lie 
fineiil  it."  is  then  the  usual  enallage:  the  Prophet  alternates 
between  the  two  without  marking  the  change;  the  Septuagint, 
however,  keeps  the  fii-st  pei-son  consistently  throughout).  If 
ll'dh'xlhi  has  its  usual  meaning  the  failure  to  exiilain  it  in  verse  7 
would  not  be  nniarkable;  neverthebss,  it  really  is  indirectly 
explained  there  as  referring  to  vineyard,  though  for  yddh'ulh  is 
substituted  a  synonymous  term,  .tlia' shu'riw,  which,  since  the 
identity  of  the  "beloved"  as  the  "vineyard"  has  already  become 
evident,  is  chosen  because  it  eaji  better  be  api)lied  both  to  a  vine- 
yard and  to  a  person;  so  siM'shil'im,  "pleasant,"  is  used  in 
Jer.  31.20  in  eond>ination  with  iidrrUi:  "Benjamin  was  to  me  a 
pb-a.sant  child."  where  the  parallelism  hi'n  i/dqir  shows  its  mean- 
ing to  be  ••precious."  "dear,"  "belov<'d,"  "fondled"  (ef. 
yaqartii  in  I.s.  43.4 );  ef.  Is.  ()6.12:  "ye  .shall  be  born  U])on  her 
sides,  and  be  dandled  (I'^sha'sha' u)  upon  her  knees." 

To  nmk<"  the  first  line  consistent,  then,  it  is  neci'ssary  only  to 
read  the  eon.sonantal  text  as  preserved  (or  changed)  by  the 
Seplnagint  ;  reading,  however,  a  different  vowel  from  that  wliich 


[  .167 


312  I'linilhlisiii   ill  Isaiah,  Chapio-y;   1- H) 

Chapter  ."> 

it  svipi>lic(l:  ilnilhai  Un-  its  dndhl:  "Now  will  I  siiio-  of  my 
bcldvrd,  a  sdiij^-  (if  my  liivc  for  my  vineyard."'  This  at  the  same 
time  is  what   iiai-allrlism  (lemands. 

Tiie  second  stiehos  (lit.  "a  vinej-ai-d  was  to  my  helovfd," 
kerem  hdyd  Udhldhl)  would  then  have  to  lie  read:  "a  vineyard 
was  to  mo  fas")  beloved,"  l-crnn  hdyu  li  h-ijddlfidh;  cf.  Gen. 
28.21,  w'-hfuia  Yah  a-;  U  Irhilnia.  "and  Yahwe  will  be  to  me  for 
God."  The  ednsli'iictiiin  is  used  particularly  of  personal  rela- 
tionships (father  and  sons,  husliand  and  wife,  etc.),  a  fact  which 
is  in  keepinp'  with  the  i)ersonitieati(in  suggested  by  the  use  of 
"beloved"  in  this  first  verse.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  Sep- 
tuagint  omits  the  jironoun  of  "beloved,"  reading  perhaps  as 
]>n)|M,sr,l,  I'  aadhidh  for  Udhldhl. 

J!'-I,hn;ni  Inn  shrni,,a.  "in  a  very  fruitful  hill,"  is  literally 
"in  a  horn,  son  of  fat"  ((jr  "oil"").  The  use  of  "son"  in  such 
phrases  is  fairly  frequent;  normally,  however,  it  is  applied  to 
that  which  is  the  result  of,  is  produced  by,  that  comes  forth 
from,  or  goes  into,  something  else;  i.e.,  whei'e  the  original  mean- 
ing of  the  term  is  preserved  in  a  sort  of  personification.  Thus 
"sparks"  are  the  "sons  of  the  Hame":  "arrows"  are  "sons  of 
the  quiver";  particularly  in  Is.  121.10:  Babylon  is  likened  to 
corn  that  is  threshed,  and  this  is  called  "son  of  my  threshing- 
floor";  on  the  other  hand,  the  hill  itself  would  be  "father"  of 
fertilitj'  (see  the  note  on  6.13).  It  is  curious  that  in  the  present 
verse,  where  Israel  is  likened  to  a  vineyard,  and  the  vine^-ard  is 
personified,  the  metaphorical  use  of  son  .should  appear  applied 
not  ta   Israel   nr  the  vineyard,  but   to  the  "hill."  which  has  no 

The  word  qeren  itself  occurs  some  seventy-five  times  in  the 
Old  Testament;  only  here  does  it  denote  anything  but  "horn." 
The  translation  "hill"  is  based  on  the  Arabic,  where  qar-n  de- 
notes sometimes  the  spui'  of  a  liill ;  also  the  higlier  part  of  a 
desert,  or  a  eorniT;  icddls  also  have  proper  names  compounded 
with  (Juni.  Indeed,  the  choice  of  qcren  here,  instead  of  any 
usual  wiinl  for  hill,  and  as  emphasizing  the  "horn"  or  "spur" 
of  a  hill,  is  curious;  vineyards  are  planted  on  hills,  it    is  true; 


I'anillilisiii   ill   Isiiiiih,  Clniiitirs   l-IO 


hut  nil  th.-  slo|),s  pivf.Tiil>ly  ,.r  n.lliii;;  hills,  not  on  isohiti'tl 
pt'aks.  The  iiitin-  jihra-sc  is  cviihiitly  very  poitifnl,  and  not 
litiial  ;  it  wdiihl  l)i'  so  cvi-n  without  thi-  word  bfii,  "son";  qinn 
sill  in <  n  means  "horn,  Hask  of  oil"  (I  Sam.  16.1)  and  its  appli- 
cation to  a  liill  wii\ild  su^jii'st  a  m('ta|)iior;  hut  particularly 
would  it  hi'  apt  in  personification;  tji  n  ii  happukh,  "iiorn  of 
antimony,"  is  a  proper  name.  IVriiaps,  tlii'ii,  tlio  propositioh 
/(',  "in."  should  he  omitted,  and  the  phrase,  (icirn  brit  shcnien, 
should  refer  directly  to,  and  he  in  apposition  with,  "the  vine- 
yard."     The  chau'ie  restores  i)arallelism  at  the  same  time. 

2.  (n)  Ami  he  fonccil  it,  (b)  and  pitlieroil  out  the  stoiie.s  tlicroof, 
(CI  anil  plantnl  it  with  choicest  vines;  (<i)  anil  huilt  a  tower  in 
the  niiilst  thereof,  (e)  ami  also  inailo  a  wine  prcsa  therein;  (f)  ami 
he  lookiil  that  it  shonlil  brinu  forth  grapes,  (g)  ami  it  brought 
forth  wilil  grajH'S. 

The  Siptuatiint,  as  noted  ahove,  ri  ads  the  first  pci-son 
throughout  this  vei-se.  Of  the  senteiieis  that  compose  this 
strophe,  f  and  <j  tojrether  possihly  form  a  line  of  the  same  l\  pe 
as  that  noted  hefore  as  tiie  dominant  type  of  this  proplncy 
(qind)  ;  they  mijrht  also  he  read  as  an  ordinary  parallelistic 
distich,  like  d  and  e.  In  regard  to  a,  h  (each  in  Ilehrew  a  single 
wonl )  and  c  (two  words),  there  is  some  doubt;  they  might  he 
read  as  three  stichoi  (cf.  1.6),  as  two  (ah,  c)  or  as  one  witli 
caesura  (ah  e)  ;  only  d  and  e,  then,  cannot  he  made  to  conform 
to  the  qhit'i  type. 

The  word  hoshhii  (root  "to  stink")  oecui-s  in  .loh  :!1.40:  it 
may  he  merely  a  general  term  "worthle.ss  (ones),  '  and  pi-rhaps 
denotis  the  .same  as  'inn'^bhi'  rosh,  literally,  "poison  grapes," 
translated  "grapes  fif  gall"  (cf.  Pent.  'J9.17:  "a  r(M)t  hearing 
gair*  ;  as  a  nmtter  of  fact,  galls  are  found  on  grapevines;  and 
even  if  they  were  not,  the  oak  gall  is  common  enough  in  Syria 
to  have  given  rise  to  the  figure. 

The  suddenness  and  brevity  of  the  climax  "they  produced 
galls,"  after  the  long  description  of  the  care  lavished  on  the 
vinevard,  is  worthv  of  note  in  n  discussion  of  the  style  of  Isaiah. 


[369 


314  I'anillilisiii  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  5 

3-4.    (3a)    And    now,    O    inliabitant    of    Jorusalem,    and    men    of 
Judah,   (b)   judge,  I  pray  you,  betwixt  me  and   (betwixt)   my  vine- 
yard.    (4a)   What  could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard  that 
I  have  not  done  it  (lit.  and  I  have  not  done  it)  ;   (b)  wherefore  when 
I  looked  (lit.  did  I  look)  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes,  brought 
it  forth   (lit.  and  it  brought  forth)  wild  grapes? 
Here  the  dominant  tj-pe  of  strophe  becomes  clear  again :  the 
caesura  is  marked ;  there  is  a  degree  of  subordinate  parallelism 
between  the  two  portions  of  each  line,  caused,  except  in  the  first, 
by  till-  r.-pi-titioii  of  some  word:  •  •l)ctwixt '"  in  Mb,  ••(bine,""  •(7,s(7, 
ill  4a.  ••l.riii-  forlh,-'  Ilchivw  -as,!  ai:aiii,  in  4h.     Theiv  is  par- 
allelism, alsd,  ill  f,,nii  and  tliou-lit  bi'twc-n  4a  and  41i  as  .-ntitics: 
••Why  (li.l  1  (hi  fverythiii-  -ihkI  b.r  it,  wliile  it  di.l   i  pnidiieed) 
onlv  ill  (sails)  for  me?" 


0.    (a  I    And  now,  go  to;    I   will  tell  you    (lit.  and   now,   let   me  tell 
you  I  what  I  will  do  to  my  vineyard. 

Kead  by  itself,  this  line  might  be  simple  prose.  But  read 
with  attention  to  the  rest  of  the  poem  in  which  it  stands,  it  makes 
a  somewhat  different  impression.  Indeed,  one  must  not  disre- 
gard the  immediately  preceding  line,  to  which  it  is  an  answer. 
And  while  the  question  in  4b  has  a  distiiiet  rhetnrieai  purpose, 
it  is  not  mei-ely  a  rhetorical  ((uestioii.  It  eiiiinut  he  supixised 
that  the  euriosity  of  the  I'mpiiet's  audience  at  this  iidiiit  was  not 
aroused  by  the  ipiestiou  why  a  eaivfiiily  nurtured  vineyard  pro- 
duced galls;  mu-  eail  it  be  siipjinsed.  wlieil  he  utters  tlie  words 
•■now  1  will  tell  ymi,"  thai  the  audience  is  not  ex|iectiug  the 
answer. to  that  particular  question;  and  the  form  of  the  rest  of 
this  prophecy  shows  conclusively  that  there  was  ;i  caesura,  a 
pause,  after  these  words.  Indeed,  "let  me  tell  you"  (witlimit 
expressed  object)  is  a  cmiqilet.'  pr(i])()sitiiin  in  itself;  cf.  .lev. 
11,18,  "and  the  Lord  halli  t.ild  me,"  hudhVair,-.  but  particularly 
Jer.  l(l.-_'l,  where  the  same  rlieioi-ic'al  effect  as  ill  till-  present 
passage  is  ]u-.iduced  in  the  same  way,  exce]iting  that  tlie  effect 
lieciiiiiis  clearer  by  the  rep.'tition  of  the  predicate  after  the 
cai'snra:  ••Therefore,  behold,  1  will  this  once  cause  tliem  to 
know — I  will  cause  them  tn  know  mine  liaiid  and  my  might." 
And    in    Isaiah   the   caesura    is   used   with    added    effect;    for   he 


370  I 


iti   IsiiUih.  Chiiptrrs   l-IO 


wrfiK-hcs  till"  I'oiu'hisiiiii  of  tin-  sciittiu'c  away  from  tlu-  cxiii't-ti'd, 
ami  with  drainatic-  siuUlciiiu'ss  again  nisiics  from  calm  rea.soiiiii<; 
to  a  proplu'cy  of  punishment.  To  a  im  rtaiii  extent  there  is  in- 
volvetl  here  a  speeies  of  j)aronoma.sia.  "'1  will  inform  you" 
hecomes  because  of  the  udilitional  clause,  "ril  show  you!"  in 
the  coilo(|uial  use  of  that  phrase  as  a  threat ;  cf.  the  passage  from 
.Jeremiah  tjuoted  above;  and  so  in  Arabic  'arrifuhii,  "I  will  let 
him  know,"  "1  will  show  him"  (scil.,  "something  he  will  re- 
member"), "I  will  teach  him  a  lesson."  If,  however,  the  verse 
is  rigardeil  as  one  long  liiu',  parallelism  is,  perhaps,  established 
by  means  of  the  infinitives  in  51)-G  ((|.v.),  which  are  in  appo- 
sition with  the  clause  "what  1  shall  do  to  my  vineyard";  or  if 
parallelism  was  not  intended  at  all.  the  line  is  a  simple  prose  line, 
a  mere  "fcu-unda  of  announecmeut." 

.'>-•).   (5b)    I   will  take  nway   tlip  lieOgo  thereof,   (c)    ami   it   sliall 
be  eaten  up;   (il)  nnil  break  down  the  wall  thereof,  (e)  and  it  shall 
bo  trodden  down,      (lia)  And  I  will  lay  it  wa.ste:   (b)  it  shall  not  be 
pruned,   (c)   nor   (shall  it  be)   didRed:    (d)   but  there  shall  come  up 
briers  and  thorns:   (e)   I  will  nlsu  commancl  the  tlouds  (f )  that  thoy 
rain  no  rain  upon  it. 
The  extreme,  almost  savage,  terseness  of  the  Hebrew  infini- 
tives in  .")b  and  tl   ("take  away,"  Ju'ist'r;  "break  down."  pilroi^) 
is  not  revealed  by  the  English  finite  verbs. 

The  ten  cbuises  of  this  pa.ssagc  can  again  be  read  as  a  series 
of  (five)  lines,  each  with  a  distinct  caesura;  the  tuievenness  in 
leeigth  f>f  the  two  parts,  however,  is  absent;  on  the  other  hand, 
with  the  exception  of  one  line  (6ef)  each  might  clearly  be  read 
as  two,  all  to  a  certain  extent  parallel,  but  with  closer  jiarallelism 
between  the  alternate  lines. 

The  arrangement  is  not  cnlinly  dear  as  the  text  stands,  (ia 
aiul  fib  evidi-ntly  belong  closely  together;  In'  jii::iinu'r  probably 
is  a  circumstantial  clause  modif.ving  wa-'"sliUlu'lii'i  hhiithii:  "and 
I  will  lay  it  wa.ste,  it  not  being  pruned."  This  would  snggi'st 
then  that  the  corresponding  /«'  iii'tidhfr,  "it  shall  not  be  hoed," 
belongs  after,  not  before,  6d,  thus:  "then'  shall  come  up  briers 
and  thorns,  it  not  being  hoed."  Otherwise,  6a-d  might  form  an 
"envelope"  patallelistic  quatra.stieh  : 

[  •■'■1  1 


316  Parallelisiii  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  5 

And  I  shall  make  it  a  waste, 
It  shall  not  be  pruned, 
And  it  shall  not  be  hoed, 

And  thorn  and  thistles  shall  come  up. 
At  any  rate  there  is  a  clear  relationship  of  cause  and  effect 
between  the  growth  of  thorns  and  thistles  and  the  absence  of 
hoeing ;  as  there  is  between  removal  of  the  hedge  and  being  eaten 
(but  see  the  note  on  6.13),  between  breaking  of  the  walls  and 
being  trodden.  This  leads  to  a  closer  examination  of  the  word 
hatha,  "waste,"  in  its  relation  to  absence  of  pruning.  Bdfha 
is  a  a-n-a^  Xeyo/Mevov,  assigned  to  the  root  bdth<ith,  "cut  off"  or 
"sever,"  althoiigh  as  vocalized  by  the  Massora,  this  derivation 
is  not  certain;  the  form  should  be  hatta,  used  by  Isaiah  in  7.19 
with  the  meaning  "precipice."  Septuagint  and  Targum  trans- 
late with  words  containing  the  idea  "to  desert" — evidencing 
perhaps  nothing  more  than  a  desire  to  establish  a  closer  connec- 
tion of  ideas,  as  suggested  above  ("neglected"  a.s  a  sj'nonym  of 
"unpiTined").  The  conclusion  seems  inevitable,  since  tlie  lan- 
guage has  many  words  for  "waste,"  "destruction,"  etc.,  that 
Isaiah  used  this  special  work  here  because  of  some  special  appro- 
priateness. If  the  root  is  ' '  cut  off, ' '  the  purpose  may  have  been 
the  play  on  the  ideas:  "it  shall  be  cut — but  not  with  (the  cutting 
of)  pruning."  But  it  is  far  more  likely  tliat  there  is  an  error 
in  the  text  or  in  our  interpretation ;  with  a  prefixed  'ayin 
{'ihdthd?)  the  word  might  mean  "tliii-kct."  "entanglement"; 
or  if  possibly  the  Arabic  root  kathu'a.  kufhatha  (which  would 
ordinarily  be  in  Hebrew  kash^a,  Idsliash.  but  is  not  found) 
might  be  read,  a  still  more  appropriate  word  would  result ;  it 
denotes  "become  thick  and  tangled";  it  is  applied  not  only  to 
plants,  but  also  to  the  beards  of  men ;  and  it  is  at  least  curious 
to  note  that  in  Lev.  25.5  vines  that  are  left  unpruned  in  the 
Sabbatical  year  are  called  mlz'ir,  "Nazirite,"  i.e.,  "with  unshorn 
hair."' 

In  6e,  f  "  I  will  also  command  the  clouds,  that  they  rain  no 
rain  iipdii  it,"  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  questioning  the 
eaisura  aftrr  "clouds."  The  verb  "command"  with  the  prepo- 
sition ■(//.  "uiion,"  "against,"  almost  invariably  means  "pro- 


I'anilhlixm   in   Isaiah,  Chaiit.rs  1-10 


liiliit"":  till-  plinisi-  m.aiis  linn  ••!  will  nijoiii,  ri'straiii  tlif 
clouils";  so  that  till-  rest  of  tlit-  sfiitciifi-  is  iiu-ri'ly  a  iii-aivr 
di'tiiiitioii;  till'  usual  i-oiistrui'tion,  indi-fii,  woulil  l)i':  "I  will  lay 
coiiiiiiaiid  upon  the  ulouds,  saying,  'rain  not  upon  it.'  "  In  tho 
difficult  passage.  Job  36.32,  M>rt-i/'i-«it;  'iilrhd  b'^^tiutfgi"' ,  Saadia 
interprets  the  lirst  two  words,  "and  lie  eonunanded  upon  it,"  as 
a  eonipUte  proposition,  and  so  the  English  translates,  "eoni- 
niandeth  it  not  to  shine,"  inserting  the  last  three  words.  But  if 
the  sentenee  in  Isaiali  is  regarded  as  one  long  stieiios,  it  is  still 
parallel  to  the  rest  of  vei-se  G. 

7.  (a)  For  the  vine.varj  of  the  Lonl  of  Hosts  is  the  liouso  of 
Israel,  (b)  ami  the  men  of  Juilah  his  pleasant  plant;  (c)  and  he 
looked  for  judgment  but  behold  o|)pression;  (d)  for  righteousness, 
and  l>ehold  a  cry. 

Stiehoi  a  and  b  are  a  di.stieh  in  ordinary  eoniplenientary 
parallelism;  neverthekss,  there  is  a  species  of  caesura  within 
each  stiehos,  and  there  was  (piite  probably  in  delivery  of  the 
prophecy  an  actinil,  dramatic  pause:  "for  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord  of  Hosts  is — the  house  of  Israel!"  Indeed,  whenever  in  a 
propiksition  s\d)jeet  and  predicate  are  exactly  synonymous  and 
coextensive,  there  residts  a  form  of  inner  parallelism. 

In  stiehoi  c  and  tl  the  caesura  is  logical,  and  again  these  two 
lines  might  be  divided  into  four.  In  either  ca.se  /i-^"f//i(7</'(,  "for 
righteousness,"  is  interesting;  though  it  is  a  single  word,  it  fonns 
an  independent  .syntactic  member;  and  in  time,  in  the  munber 
of  rhythmic  "thought  beats,"  it  is  the  c(|uivalent  of  the  phrase 
"he  looked  for  justice." 

The  paronomasia  is  striking,  and  especially  in  the  ea.se  of 
<;'^dh<iq<i  and  v'"'*'/''.  "righteousness"  and  "cry,"  the  meaning 
is  perfectly  evident ;  "the  cry"  is  the  cry  of  fright  and  sufTering, 
and  by  met»)nymy  the  word  becomes  almost  a  synonym  of  "sin"; 
so  in  Gen.  1.H.21  in  reference  to  So<lom,  it  is  parallel  to  "sin," 
xaUii'ii,  and  contra.sted  with  the  t^ndiliq,  "righteous."  of  18.24; 
in  P.s.  9.13,  "seeker  of  blooil"  (i.e.,  "murderer")  occurs  as  a 
complement  of  "the  cry  of  tin-  oppres.st<l."  Hut  the  wi>rd 
mispii\.  A.  V.  "oppression."  in  contrast  to  inlsh p'll ,  "ju<lgment" 


318  Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  o 

or  "justice,"  is  not  entirely  elear.  If  tlie  thoug-ht  intended  was 
"shedding"  (i.e.,  of  blood)  it  is  curious  that  Isaiah  should  have 
had  recourse  to  a  rare  xoot  sdphax  (moreover,  with  sin  not 
samekh),  instead  of  the  root  shdphakh- common  in  Hebrew  with 
just  the  connotation  "shedding-blood"  and,  moreover,  affording 
an  even  closer  homonym  to  mishpdt :  i.e.,  mishpdkh.  If  Proverbs 
13.23  were  clearer,  it  might  be  cited  as  suggesting  a  possible 
emendation  viispd,  "snatching":  there  is  that  which  is  destroyed, 
literally  "snatched,"  "swept  away."  for  want  of  justice,  h^-l6' 
ini-shpdf :  and  in  the  passage  just  cited,  Gen.  18.23,  occurs  again : 
"wilt  thou  snatch  away  {tespe)  the  righteous  with  the  wicked," 
in  which  Abraham  apparently  a.sks  the  Lord  if  He  himself  in- 
tends to  commit  toward  the  righteous  just  that  specific  act  for 
committing  which  the  wicked  are  about  to  be  punished. 

8-10.  (8a)  Woe  unto  them  that  join  house  to  house,  (b)  (that) 
lay  field  to  field,  (c)  till  (there  be)  no  place,  (d)  that  they  (Heb. 
ye)  may  be  placed  alone  in  the  earth. 

(9a)    In  mine  ears    (said)    the  Lord  of  Hosts,    (b)    of  a  truth 
many  houses  shall  be   desolate,    (9e)    even  great  and   fair  without 
inhabitant.     (10a)   Yea,  ten  acres  of  vineyard  shall  yield  one  bath, 
(b)  and  the  seed  of  an  homer  shall  yield  an  ephah. 
Beginning  with  verse  8  there  is  a  return  to  ordinary  par- 
allelism ;  with  a  few  transpositions  the  prophecy  through  verse 
23  consists  of  a  series  of  double  quatrains,  of  the  type  preserved 
in  the  first  series,  8-10:  the  first  quatrain  denounces  a  certain 
class  of  sinners,  the  second  predicts  their  punishment    (i.e..   is 
antistrophic).      In  each  quatrain  normally,  while  the  four  lini'S 
are  parallel,  there  is  a  closer  degree  of  parallelism  within  each 
couplet  composing  it. 

In  tlif  first  (|uatrain,  tlie  tiiird  line,  'ailh  %  phes  mdqom,  "till 
there  is  lui  jilace,"'  seems  possibly  too  short,  especially  when  con- 
trasted with  the  fourth.  Is  it  again  a  mere  coincidence  that 
just  where  this  disparity  is  felt,  the  Septuagint  shows  an  equal- 
izing transposition?  It  translates:  "in  order  that  they  may 
remove  something  of  their  neighbor's";  i.e.,  'adh  '<^sdph  m<''ri)ii 
q'rfihhnin.  Here  'fsoph.  "removal,"  is  the  Massoretie  'ephts, 
"there  is  no";  iii'Ttiiid,  "something,"  is  the  ilassoretic  maqdm 

[  374  ] 


I'anillilistn   in   Isiiuih,  (luiplirs   l-IO  :WJ 

I'llAITKK    ."i 

("plai-e";  on  tlu'  inisivadiiii;  of  '  for  '/,  sec  the  iioti'  on  miq- 
qidhim,  "J.ti':  Imt  t/' fihluhii  is  tlu'  .Miissontic  qn-ibh.  "luidst 
i>r,"  from  tln'  in'xt  liiic;  (luito  i)ossil>ly,  then,  lliis  word  was  at 
Hist  omitted  l)y  mistake,  was  written  on  the  luarfrin,  and  then 
edited  by  a  eo[)yist  into  tlie  wron-,'  pliu-e.  For  tlie  use  of 
miiqom,  "place,"  i.e.,  "vineyard,  '  'lield,  '  "estate,"  i-ompare 
Is.  7.23:  "in  every  plaee  {miiqinn ;  i.e.,  "estate"  or  "vineyard") 
where  there  were  a  thousand  vines";  and  on  tlie  <reneral  idea 
e.\i>res.sed  here  eonipare  the  words  of  Aliab  to  Nahotii  in  I  Kinps 
21.2:  "(iive  me  thy  vineyard,  lieeause  it  is  near  (qdrobh),  along- 
side of  mine  house."  Line  8d  seems  to  hear  in  itself  other  evi- 
dences of  eorrujition.  The  use  of  the  second  peraon  (the  Ena- 
lish  translates  as  third)  in  this  one  line,  while  the  rest  of  the 
stan/a  and  of  the  whole  prophecy  is  cast  in  the  third,  which  is 
the  usual  construction  after  hi/i,  "ah!"  or  "alas!"  may  not  be 
tlisrejirardetl.  Moreover  the  use  of  the  ho/jli'iil  form  htlshabhtnu, 
"ye  be  caused  to  dwell,"  is  most  i  1  logical :  there  is  certaiidy  no 
idea  of  causation  intended.  Tiie  Septnagint  translator  felt  this, 
and  read  (or  interpreted)  the  initial  h  as  the  particle  of  inter- 
rogation: "will  ye  dwell."  Parallelism  with  the  preceding  line 
suggests  the  infinitive  W-shlhhirini.  "and  (until)  their  dwell- 
ing," and  I'-hhudiliim.  which  was  changed  to  I'  -hhadil'  klu  in  to 
agree  with  the  misread  verb. 

In  9a  the  phra.se  "In  mine  ears  (said)  the  Lord  of  Hosts" 
.stands  outside  the  parallelism,  as  has  been  noticed  in  the  ea.se  of 
similar  phra.ses  introducing  the  direct  discourse.  The  sentence 
it.self,  without  a  verb,  is  suspicious;  the  consonantal  ti-xt  might 
as  well  be  translated:  "In  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts"  (ef. 
Xuin.  11.18,  14.28;  I  Sam.  8.21);  or  even  as  an  oath,  "by  the 
ears  of  the  Lord!"  Possibly  its  mutilated  form  is  due  to  the 
fact  again  that  it  was  an  editorial  nuirgiiud  insertion  to  explain 
the  following  construction  'tin  lo',  literally  "if  many  houses 
shall  not  be  <lesolate!"  (^r  the  whole  construction,  including 
'iHi  li')',  is  the  editorial  reconstruction  f)f  a  defective  jia.ssage ; 
Sejitiuigint  has  for  'ini  In'  eavyapyt'twiTai.  That  even  with  the 
M;isx,.r.il,.   •i.i)  //,'  r.tained  the  introductory  phrase  is  still  syn- 


320  Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  u 

tacticallj'  uunecessary  is  shown  for  instance  by  Job  1.11.  But 
that  ■//;(  h'l'  was  itself  probabl}^  inserted  into  a  defective  text, 
and  that  some  simple  word  Idkhen,  "therefore,"  was  original, 
is  shown  by  verses  13,  14,  24;  the  more  solemn  and  emphatic 
'im  Id'  and  'im  occur,  it  is  true,  in  14.24  and  22.14;  but  both  of 
these  passages  contain  an  especially  solemn  prophecy  ("as  I 
have  sworn,  so  shall  it  be!";  "not  shall  your  sin  be  atoned  for 
you  until  j-e  die ! " ) ,  which  is  not  the  case  here. 

On  tlie  probable  meaning  of  bdtthn  rabbhn.  ""many  houses," 
see  2.3,  "many  nations." 

In  tlie  line  "ti'n  acres  (lit.  "spans,"  gimde;  perhaps  "what 
a  sjian  of  oxen  can  plough  in  a  day")  of  vineyard  shall  produce 
one  bath"  ( foi'ty  litres  or  eight  gallons),  it  would  be  inter- 
esting to  know  why  the  Septuagint  omitted  (or  misread)  the 
common  word  kenm,  "viuej-ard."  Perhaps  merelj'  because  it 
was  felt  that  a  term  of  measurement  referring  literally  to 
ploughing  was  not  a  logical  one  to  apply  to  vineyards.  Isaiah 
is,  as  a  matter  of  ract,  very  cari'ful  in  his  use  of  terms;  and  in 
7.23  where  again  there  is  a  quantitative  reference  to  vineyards, 
he  uses  just  the  terms  which  would  be  expected  and  which  are 
used  today  in  the  East :  the  number  of  vines  of  a  certain  value 
each.  In  Arabic  there  is  a  term  which  exactly  corresponds  to 
gii)Hh'.  i.e.,  fadddii;  but  I  doubt  whether  even  the  colloquial 
Arabic  ap))lies  it  in  measurement  of  anything  but  seed-land. 
Tlic  Srptuagiiit,  translating  ipycopTai.  perhaps  substituted,  if  it 
ditl  not  artiuilly  tind  in  the  Ildirew,  for  kircm  some  form  of  the 
root  from  wiiieli  comes  'ikkdrhii.  "jilougiiman " ;  in  Jer.  .■)1.23 
the  two  ti'nns  occur  together:  'ikkdr  H''-i;i)ii(}<'i.  ••tin'  husbandman 
and  his  yoke  ef  oxen."  The  line  under  discussion  is  as  a  matter 
of  fact  overloaded;  and  it  is  possible  that  either  "ten"  or  "vine- 
yard" is  superfluous.  If  '"qereth  (■'"m-adhim,  "ten  acres,"  is 
original,  the  consonants  k,  r  from  kcrem  may  represent  the 
marginal  variant  kdr,  for  a  kor  is  a  term  of  measurement  exactly 
identical  with  a  \'7;„,  r  ( nn'iitioncd  in  th<>  next  line")  as  tin-  hath 
is  identical  with  the  'Cphd.  On  tlie  otlier  hand  "ten"  may  be 
marginal,  as  an  atteni|)t  to  explain  the  proportion  betwi'en  kdr 


I'imillrlisni   ill  Isiiiah,  Chaptirs   1-10  .{21 

CllAI'TKK    .') 

aiul  biitli,  yiiii4  r  aiul  'i  plul,  tlie  latter  ut'  ivicli  jiair  of  tcriiis  ln-iii^; 
just  ttii  times  tlif  foniu  T.  At  all  ivi-nts  tin-  passajjf  is  intircst- 
ing,  if  it  may  hv  assiimoil  that  the  normal  proportionate  yield 
of  the  vineyard  and  the  tield  wrn-  about  the  same  as  today. 
Ten  aeres  of  vineyard  on  the  averajre  yield  live  thousand  y:allons. 
Professor  Hioletti  informs  me,  instead  of  whieli  Isaiah  prediets 
eight  gallons,  i.e.,  one  instead  of  sL\  hundred  and  twenty-five.  If 
"ten""  be  omitted  the  prediction  beeomes  one  instead  of  sixty, 
whieh  would  still  denote  absolute  ruin.  Siipposiu".'  a  teii-t'old 
yield  of  whtat  (Gernuui  eolonists  in  Sharon  enjoy  an  ei;:lit -fold 
yield),  the  proj)ortion  of  prophesied  to  normal  yield  would  be 
one  to  one  hundred.  In  Gen.  26.12,  it  is  true,  Isaae  is  said  to 
have  enjoyed  a  hundred-fold  yield  apparently  (so  in  Matthew 
U.S.  hundred-fold,  sixty-fold,  and  thirty-fold  yields  are  men- 
tioned) ;  if  sueh  yields  were  usual,  the  proportion  of  prophesied 
to  nomml  yield  of  grain  might  be  one  to  one  tlunisand,  but  pos- 
sibly "one  hundred  fold"  represents  not  the  returns  of  a  single 
harvest,  but  of  a  year — or  else  is  oriental  liyiierbole. 

11-14.  (lln)  \ViH>  unto  tlieiii  that  riso  up  early  in  the  morning 
tliat  tliey  may  follow  .strong  ilrink;  (b)  that  continue  until  night 
(till)  wine  inflame  them.  (12a)  And  the  harp  ami  the  viol,  the 
tabret  anil  pipe,  (b)  ami  wine  (arc  in)   their  feajfts; 

(12c)  but  they  reganl  not  the  work  of  the  Lord,  (d)  neither  con- 
sider the  operation  of  hi.s  hands.  (13a)  Therefore  my  people  are 
gone  into  captivity  (b)  bcrausc  they  have  no  knowledge:  (c)  and 
their  honorable  men  (are)  famished  (c)  and  their  multitude  dried 
up  with  thirst. 

(I4a>  Therefore  hell  hath  enlarged  herself,  (b)  and  opened  her 
mouth  without  measure;  (c)  and  their  glory  and  their  multitude  (d) 
and  their  pomp,  and  ho  that  rcjoieeth,  shall  descend  into  it  (Ilcb. : 
anil  shall  descend  their  glory  ancl  their  multitude  and  their  pomp, 
and  one  rejoicing,  in  her). 

In  this  exeeedingly  long  pas.sage  it  is  notieeable  that  verses 
n  and  14  eaeh  begin  with  "therefore,"  introducring  two  dilTer- 
ent  threats  of  puni.shment :  hell  ami  eaptivity,  for  the  one  crime 
of  intoxication.  Either  of  the.se  "therefore"  pn.s.sages  is  as  good 
a  conclusion  for  one  of  the  several  "woe"  passages  whieh,  as  at 
present  arranged,  oeeur  later  in  tliis  chapter  without  any  "there- 


322  I'aralltU.siii  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  5 

fore"  passage.  Another  fact  is  noticeable:  verse  22  is  in 
thought  a  doublet  of  verse  11,  referring  again  to  drunkards. 
The  illogical  arrangement  is  self  evident ;  and  the  transposition 
of  the  passage  12c-13  leaves  a  stanza,  clear  and  logical,  of  the 
same  formation  exactly  as  that  foxind  in  verses  8-10 :  strophe 
and  antistrophe. 

As  the  passage  stands,  moreover,  the  feeling  for  style  is  out- 
raged by  tlie  fact  tliat  the  word  hdm6)i  occurs  twice  (verses  13 
and  14 1  in  two  quite  distinct  meanings:  once  denoting  "the 
nuiltitiiile"  111'  "people"  (contrasted  with  kdhhod,  "honorable 
men";  cf.  Is.  Ki.l-t),  and  once  denoting  "noise,"  A.  V.  again 
"multitude."  It  was  perhaps  just  this  word  which  led  the  com- 
piler to  put  tliese  passages  together  (see  on  yinhom,  below). 

Parallelism  in  11a  and  b  between  yirdnphii,  "follow,"  and 
i/ailhUqfiii.  "till  wine  inflame  thciii."  iiivulv.s  at  the  same  time 
a  play  on  the  latter  word,  wliieli,  at  least  in  the  simple  iqal) 
conjugation,  means  also  "follow,"  "pursue"  (Ps.  10.2;  Lam. 
4.19;  Gen.  31.36;  I  Sam.  17.53)  :  in  the  morning  they  pursue 
wine ;  in  the  evening  wine  pursues  them.  Moreover  there  is  here 
again  the  characteristic  twist  of  thought:  "Ah!  those  who  are 
industrious  in  pursuit  of — wine  I ' ' 

In  12a  and  b,  as  the  text  stands,  there  is  displayed  an  ex- 
tremely awkward  style :  four  names  of  musical  instruments  are 
joined  witli  the  word  wine  to  form  the  subject  of  "their  ban- 
quet," though  "wine"  has  just  occurred  in  the  preceding  line. 
in  parallelism  to  its  .synonym  "strong  drink."  Certainly  the 
second  "wine"  is  out  of  place;  and  it  is  probable,  in  view  of 
verse  14.  that  this  series  of  words  shoiild  be  read  and  emended 
in  somi'  such  way  as  follows: 

ic'-hdyd  kinmr  wa-nebhel  h"iiinii<'im 
toph  w<'-xaUl  sW^'On  mishtdiii, 

"the  harp  and  the  viol  are  their  tumult;  the  tabret  and  pipe 
are  the  noise  of  thrir  banquet."  For  the  inserted  word  sh^'on, 
see  below,  on  'dl)':  hdh. 

In  14e  the  reading'  li"<llitinlh .  etc.,  with  feminine  singidar 
suffix  instead  nf  masculine  plural    i which  the  English  assumes. 


rurullili.sm   in   Isaiah.  Chaiilirs    l-li)  :t2:i 

I'llM'TKK    ."> 

rt'iuliiij;  ■■tlicir  •riory"  for  ■"lirr  ■:lory'"i  is  diif  to  tlic  iiiHiu'iiei' 
of  tlu>  fi'ininiiu'  sutUx  in  the  prfCfdiMji  line  ("'''•'i'  mouth")  — 
aiiollu'r  elejir  evidoiice  of  i-opyist's  cari'lfssuess.  W'-'dlfz  btih, 
litirally  "ami  oiu-  who  ri-joiccs,  in  her,"  a  paftieiplf  added  to 
a  series  of  ahstraets  eaeli  with  its  siiltix,  is  stylistically  impossible, 
and  the  sejiaration  of  the  final  prepositional  phrase,  "in  her," 
from  its  verb  ""fro  ilown"  in  this  manner  is  also  not  likely 
Isaianie.  Nor  is  the  proper  \isa<re  "\io  down  in"  Sli''ol,  but  "tro 
down  to"  (aee.)  or  "into"  ('el)  Sli*'i'il;  nor  is  'dU'z  the  usual 
form  of  the  jjartieijiial  adjective  of  the  root  'difz;  it  occurs  only 
once,  as  against  'alllz  seven  times,  five  of  tin  in  in  Isaiah.  Pos- 
sibly tlien  'dh'z  bah  tojjether  represent  an  ori'rinal  abstract  witii 
suffix  like  the  prceedintr  nouns,  e.;;.,  '"lizi'ithdh  (cf.  '<'li<;uthditi. 
Hub.  3.14),  or  'alzdthdh.  Or  probably  Wilcz  is  a  misrcadin<r  for 
a  verb  parallel  to  i/dr'dhCi,  "<ro  down";  the  Septuagint  has 
oi  Xoi/jiol  ai>n";f.  i.e.,  'aiishi'  b'lhja'al  (cf.  I  Sam.  25.2.'),  e.fr.),  in 
which  'aiisht  rei)rcsents  a  double  readinj;;  of  shd'dn  in  this  vei-se, 
or  a  marginal  reading  of  it  intended  for  insertion  in  verse  12 
(see  above)  ;  while  h'lh/a'al  nniy  represent  an  original  ijibbdl'Ti, 
"shall  be  swallowed  up"  (with  bdh,  "in  h<r"':  ef.  the  par- 
allelism in  Prov.  1.13,  "Lot  us  swallow  them  up  [iiibhld't'in] 
alive,  as  the  grave;  and  whole,  as  those  that  go  down  into  the 
pit"  {i/ofilht  bhiir)  ;  and  ef.  po.ssibly  Is.  2)S.7,  where  the  iiiph'al 
of  this  verb  is  used  (but  in  a  different  figure)  of  drunkards. 

The  pa.ssage  121)-l:{c  extracted  from  the  middle  of  this  double 
(puitrain  may  well  belong  after  verse  21 ;  if  a  line  parallel  to 
"my  people  shall  pi-risli  for  lack  of  knowledge"  be  supplied, 
e.g.,  "and  are  undone  for  lack  of  understanding,"  the  restored 
serit»s  of  verses  21,  12b-l:5c  needs  nothing  further  to  furnish 
another  perfectly  consistent  and  complete  double  i|uatraiii. 
Notice  that  verse  12e,  "the  work  of  the  Lord  they  do  not  regard," 
and  13b,  "Iweause  they  have  no  knowledge."  present  an  excel- 
lent contrast  to  "those  who  are  wise  in  their  own  eyes"  in 
verse  21.  For  the  proposed  additional  line  cf.  Hosea  4.(i :  /uV//imi7 
'amini  »iib-h'll  hml-iln' ath,  "my  people  are  undone  for  want  of 
knowbdg'-":  whih-  in  Is.  27.11  occurs  the  phnuse  Ai"  ///  'am  binoth 

[  379  1 


324  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Ch  a  piers  1-10 


hfi',  "for  it  is  a  people  of  no  unclerstandiug " ' ;  and  tlie  same 
parallelism,  Mn  and  yddha' ,  is  found  in  Is.  1.3,  6.10.  The  sug- 
gestion is  also  in  order  that  gald,  "go  into  captivity,"'  is  an 
error  for  kdia,  "perish,"  i.e.,  of  the  hunger  and  thirst  described 
in  131jc.  Tlie  particular  aptness  in  associating  hunger  with  lack 
of  knowledge  is  due  to  the  figurative  expression  "hunger  for 
knowledge";  so  Amos  saj's  (8.11,  13)  :  "I  will  send  famine  in 
the  land — not  a  famine  for  bread,  nor  a  thirst  for  water ;  but  of 
hearing  the  words  of  the  Lord ;  in  that  daj-  shall  the  fair  virgins 
and  young  men  faint  for  thirst."  Still,  that  hunger  and  thirst 
would  be  a  fitting  punishment  for  feasting  and  drunkemiess,  is 
evident;  and  it  is  possible  that  one  of  these  "therefore"  sections 
is  the  missing  sequel,  not  of  verse  21,  but  of  verse  22,  another 
passage  referring  to  drunkenness;  i.e.,  that  there  were  originally 
two  quite  separate  prophecies,  or  versions  of  one  prophecy,  on 
this  subject. 

13-16.  (15a)  And  the  (mean)  mau  shall  be  brought  down,  (b) 
and  the  (mighty)  mau  shall  be  humbled,  (e)  aud  the  eyes  of  the 
lofty  shall  be  humbled;  (16a)  But  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  be  ex- 
alted in  judgment,  (b)  and  God,  that  is  holy,  shall  be  sanctified  by 
righteousness. 

Tliat  verses  15  and  16  are  out  of  place  is  shown  by  tlie  fact 
tliat  they  arc  a  variant  of  the  refrain  found  three  times  in  chap- 
ter 2  ((|.v. ),  and  that  they  confuse  the  strophie  structure  sug- 
gcstrd  by  verse  ^!-10;  this  confirms  the  theory  that  this  chapter 
is  in  some  disorder.  As  far  as  style  is  concerned,  the  loose 
repetition  of  "shall  be  humbled"  in  15b  and  c  suggests  that 
these  two  lines  are  in  themselves  variants  of  one. 

17.  (a)  Theu  shall  the  lambs  feed  after  their  manner  (b)  and 
the  waste  places  of  the  fat  ones  shall  strangers  eat. 

While  in  fonn  these  two  stichoi  are  parallel,  and  "feed"  and 
"eat"  are  parallel  verbs,  the  precise  meaning  of  the  other  words 
is  not  entirely  clear;  nor,  even  if  this  couplet  belongs  with  the 
preceding,  is  there  sufficient  logical  connection  to  serve  as  a 
guide.     Syntactically,  as  the  text  stands,  "strangers,"  (jdrlm,  is 


Isiiiiili.  Cliiiiilt  rs   l-li) 


parallel  to  ••lamtis,"  /{•  lilnlsh'ini :  lin^'iiistii-iill\ .  Imwcvfr.  "fat 
oiu's,"  iin\iiii  is  tlic  parallel  tii  "lainlis";  it  is  only  tlic  cxifrtMiey 
of  till'  j)assa!;i'  that  has  led  translators  to  rcfrr  it  to  human 
hoinyrs  with  tlio  nieanin;;  "tlioso  who  wcio  once  rii-h";  the  word 
(x't'uiN,  with  iiisertfd  yodh,  in  Ps.  66.15  ("burnt  oflFi'rings  of  fat- 
linps, '■  'ololh  ^n^)^lw)  ;  it  is  a  synonym  of  ni''n''hn,  iistnl  by 
Isuiuh  in  1.11  ("the  fat  of  fatlin-rs'")  and  afraiii  in  11.6,  a 
passajie  of  similar  import  to  ').\1  perhaps,  but  in  wliieii  in'r'i'  is 
not  above  snspieion.  The  defeet  in  parallelism  and  elarity  of 
thought  is  again  eoineident  with  variations  in  the  Septuagint, 
whose  underl\ing  lli'brew  text,  however,  cannot  be  exaetly 
determined. 

The  word  translated  "aeeoi-ding  to  their  manner,"  i.e.,  ki- 
dh'bhdnim  is  voeali/ed  in  the  Ma.s.soretie  text  k'-<lhobhnliii.  "as 
(in)  their  piustiire"  (ef.  Jlieah  2.12:  "as  a  tloek  in  the  midst 
of  its  pjusture"' — only  other  oeeurrenee  of  the  word  dobhcr, 
"pa.sture,"  Itut  made  elear  in  Mieah  by  the  parallel,  whether 
that  parallel  be  retained  as  it  stands,  ho(;rt'i,  or  be  read  as  from 
a  root  r<'ihh<i<;,  " sheep-fold "i.  Either  voealization  demands  that 
there  l)e  supplied  in  thou<rht  a  phra.se  parallel  to  "waste  plaees," 
sueh  as  "in  the  wildenie.ss,"  "in  thi-  desert":  "they  shall  feed 
in  the  wilderness  after  their  manner,"  or  "as  though  in  their 
folds,"  a  reference  to  the  Messianic  age;  but  more  probably 
k'^-dhobhrdm  itself  is  to  be  read  simply  bii»i-iiiUlhbur.  "in  the 
wilderness";  in  tlie  second  stichos  ydrlin,  "strangei-s,"  must  be 
read  then,  after  the  Septuagint,  either  kdrim,  "lambs,"  or 
ydhhjUn,  "kids";  and  iiirxM".  "fallings,"  is  simply  a  gloss,  or 
variant  reading,  of  kdrim.  It  is  also  possible  that  a  transpo- 
sition of  words  has  taken  place,  inasmuch  as  kdrim  means  also 
"meadows";  so  that  mfxim  kdrim  ydkhflu  could  mean  "and 
fallings  shall  feed  in  meadows" — in  which  ca.se  ddblur  may  be 
retained  in  .sticiios  a.  One  other  slight  change  in  stichos  b  sug- 
gi'sts  it.self :  {or  \orbhi'ith,  "ruins,"  read  rax'^bhoth  or  mirx"bh6th, 
"broad  places";  ef.  is.  :«).2:{:  "in  that  day  shall  thy  cattle  feed 
in  large  pastures,  kur  iiirxdbh:  and  Hos.  4.16:  "The  Lord  will 
feed  them  as  a  land)  in  a  large  place,"  k'^khebrsh  bam-mtrxdhh. 


326  Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  .j 

Tlie  couplet  then  reads:  "and  lauilis  shall  feed  as  in  their  own 
meadows  [or  simply:  "in  meadows":  bi-dh<^bhdr'im],  and  the 
fatlings  graze  in  broad  (places  of)  the  pastures,"  and  has  no 
connection  with  the  rest  of  the  chapter  in  thought  or  structure. 

18-19.  (18a)  Woe  uuto  them  that  draw  iniquity  with  cords  of 
vanity,  (b)  and  sin  as  it  were  with  a  cart-rope.  (19a)  That  say, 
Let  him  make  speed  (and)  hasten  his  work,  that  we  may  see  (it) : 
(b)  and  let  the  counsel  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  draw  nigh  and 
come,  that  we  may  know  (it). 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  verse  19  is  an  explanation 
of  verse  18,  just  as  the  second  couplet  of  verse  8  was  an  expan- 
sion of  the  first,  and  as  verse  12  of  verse  11.  Verse  19  refers  to 
those  who  impiously  and  defiantly  challenge  the  Lord  to  hasten 
the  threatened  "day" ;  cf.  Amos  5.18 :  "woe  unto  you  that  desire 
the  day  of  the  Lord."  Verse  18,  then,  means  probably:  woe  to 
those  who  do  not  seek  by  repentance  to  avert  punishment,  but  w^ho 
actually  draw  it  to  tliemselves  by  their  'vanity,"  i.e.,  "impiety." 
The  words  chosi-n  by  the  Prophet  penuit  this  interpretation; 
'dii-(')ti.  "iniijuity,"  in  18a,  and  xaftd'd,  "sin,"  in  ISb,  both  de- 
note also  the  "result  of  ini<iuity  and  sin,"  i.e..  "puni.shment." 
It  is  a  question,  then,  whether  for  '"(jhdld.  "cart,"  there  should 
not  be  read  simply  the  exact  parallel  to  shCiw,  "vanity";  i.e., 
'awl4,  "with  ropes  of  unrighteousness,"  instead  of  "ropes  of  a 
cart."  "Cart-ropes,"  as  heavy  ropes,  or  as  unbreakable  ropes, 
would  not  emphasize  the  idea  of  speed,  or  of  drawing  to  oneself ; 
the  picture  would  be  that  of  men  dragging  their  sins  behind 
them,  perhaps  then  of  making  their  own  lives  burdensome. 

In  19a  "his  work,"  i)i<i<'sfhu,  stands  in  parallelism  to  "the 
counsel,"  or  rather  here  "the  plan"  (ef.  8.10),  of  the  "Holy  of 
Israel,"  whereas,  of  course,  normality  would  place  a  noun  in 
the  first  line  and  the  pronoun  referring  back  to  it  in  the  second. 
But  nia'^schu  is  evidently  merely  a  scribal  error  for  ma'«se 
Yaha'f;  ef.  1.4:  "they  have  deserted  Yahwe,  they  have  spurned 
the  Holy  of  Israel";  and  see  again  verse  24  of  this  chapter. 

The  "therefore"  stanza,  describing  the  specific  punishment 
for  this  class  of  sinners,  has  been  lost. 

[382] 


I'aralhlism   In   Isaiiih.  ('Iiaptns    l-IO  :i'J7 

I'llAlTEK   .'l 

20.  (11)  Wuo  iiiitu  tlu-m  that  tall  evil  ^'oo.l  aii>l  K<'<"l  I'vil,  (b)  that 
put  <lnrkm's.s  for  liglit,  uml  liKlit  fur  ilarkncsfi;  (cl  that  put  bittor 
for  sweet,  and  sweet  for  bitter! 

This  stanza  is  ajraiii  cvitlently  ilffcctivc;  tlicfc  is  iiiissiii<j  not 
only  tlio  "tlu'ivfoiv"  <|iuitrain,  lint  also  tin-  lonrtli  line  of  tin- 
lii-st  (|nati-ain.  IVkssibly  the  third  line  (iM,  however,  is  nieniy 
a  variant  of  the  .seeond  (h),  so  that  a  eonplet  and  not  niei-ely 
one  stiehos  is  nns.sin<r:  in  that  ease  vei-se  2'.i  shovdd  pfohalily  be 
read  liere,  for  it  is  a  poor  eoniplement  to  verse  22,  dealing  with 
drunkenness,  but  an  exeellent  one  to  verse  20:  "woe  to  those 
who  eall  bad  f;<K)d  and  jjood  bad;  who  justify  (i.e.,  eall  rifjhtcous) 
the  wieked.  but  deny  the  ri-rhteous  a  just  deeision"  (.see  below). 

21.  (a)  Woe  unto  (them  that  are)  wise  in  tlicir  own  eyes,  (b) 
mill  pruilent  in  their  own  sight. 

What  woidd  lie  the  natural  eompleiuent  of  this  couplet  is 
found  at  present  in  12e  (([.v.). 

22.  u»i  Woo  unto  tliem  that  are  mighty  to  drink  wine,  (b)  and 
men  of  strength  to  mingle  strong  drink. 

TIlis  eoupiet  is  in  thought  a  variant  of  verse  11  ((|.v.),  though 
tlio  figure  is  sliglitly  dilTerent.  The  same  sarcasm,  however,  is 
evident:  here  it  is:  "woe  to  the  valiant  in  drinking";  tliere  it 
was:  "woe  to  tiie  industrious  in  drinking." 

2.1-24.   (a)   Which  justify  the  wieked  for  a  reward,   (b)  and  take 
away  the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  from  him.     (24a)   Therefore 
OS  the  fire  devoiireth  the  stubble   (b)   and  the   flame  eonsumeth  the 
chaff,    (c)    (so)    their    root    shall    be   as    rottenness,    (il)    and    their 
blossom  shall  go  up  as  dust. 
Verse  2;}.  it  has  been  explained,  is  the  natural  sequel  to  verse 
20  (t|.v.).     In  verso  24  the  Hebrew  is  extremely  awkward;  the 
Ma.ssoretic  text  wa-x".ihash  Ichriblu'i  i/iVp*"  is  literally:  "aiul  chafT 
of  flame  sinks  down,"   interpreted  "chaff  destined   for,  or  be- 
longing  to,    tiame,"   hence   "flaming   chaff."       Parallelism   sug- 
gests the  simple  change  of  one  consonant  in  i/irpi  .so  as  to  read 
si'ir^pha,  "burning"  :  "therefore  as  the  consuming  of  stubble  (by) 
tongue  of  fire,  and  of  chaff  (by)  burning  Hame. "    This,  besides, 
is  n  more  accurate  figure;  chaff  that  burns  does  not  sink  down — 


383  J 


328  J'anilhlisiii   in  Isaiah.  Chapfrrs  1-10 

Chaptek  5 

it  is  coiisiimid  to  tlie  roots,  as  is  suggested  by  the  next  line. 
The  Septuagint  seems  to  have  had  the  same  radical  text  as  the 
Massoretic;  but,  making  yirpe  a  modifier  of  "flame"  (reading 
feminine,  tirpe),  it  translates  <^\o709  avet/ixei'7;? ;  since  the  latter 
word  means  not  only  literally  "relaxed,"  but  also  "unre- 
strained," the  thought  "violent  flame"  becomes  possible  in  the 
Greek.  Tlie  Septuagint,  moreover,  offers  some  evidence  that  the 
trouble  is  due  to  a  text  confused  by  crowded  or  marginal  writ- 
ing; it  had  placed  the  x"^^^^'  "chaff,"  of  stichos  b  in  place 
of  kam-mdq,  "like  rottenness,"  in  stichos  c,  and  apparently 
placed  kam-mdq  in  stichos  b  as  a  verb  {avyKavdrjaeTar.  possibly 
yidhloq;  cf.  verse  11).  Notice  tliat  the  first  couplet  does  not 
contain  a  syntactically  complete  proposition ;  this  is  an  example 
of  suspensive  parallelism. 

Akin  to  the  series  of  stanzas  in  chapter  5  is  10.1  (q.v. )  :  "woe 
to  those  who  decree  unrighteous  decrees";  instead  of  a  four  line 
strophe,  however,  it  offers  one  of  six  lines. 

24.  (e)  Because  tliey  liave  cast  away  tlie  law  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  (f)  and  despised  the  word  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 
This  apparently  does  not  belong  immediately  with  the  pre- 
ceding, because  effect  and  cause  have  already  been  specified 
there.  "Beeaiis(\"  then,  if  this  section  is  complete,  anticipates 
tlie  next  'al-hi'ii.  "■  tlicrefore"  (in  verse  25;  q.v.)  ;  but  more  prob- 
ably some  introdiu'tory  verses  are  missing  here  (see  the  note 
to  verse  25). 

2.3.   (a)   Therefore  is  the  anger  of  the  Lord  kindled  against  his 
peojile   (b)   and  he  hath  stretched  forth  his  hand  against  them  and 
smitten  them:   (c)  and  the  hills  did  tremble,  (d)  and  their  carcasses 
(were)  torn  in  the  midst  of  the  streets,     (e)   For  all  this  his  anger 
is  not  turned  away,  (f)  but  his  hand  (is)  stretched  out  still. 
The  fact  that  "therefore"  here   is  'al-ken,  not  Mkhen  as 
throughout  the  chapter,  though  it  must. not  be  pressed,  is  per- 
haps supporting  evidence  for  considering  this  part  of  a  different 
Ijrophecy.     More  important  is  it  that  verse  25  forms  an  admir- 
able introduction  to  the  sei-ies  of  verses  in  chapter  9,  beginning 
with  verse  12  (or  13),  where  the  refrain  "and  still  is  his  hand 

[384] 


I'arallilisin   in   Isainh,  ('huplnx    l-Ui  :!L'!» 

('ii.\i>TF,K  :> 
oiitstivlclioa."  tlif  same  i-hiusc  llial  ofciirs  licrc  in  sticlios  f, 
rtMniins  Ix'lon-  it  just  siu-li  a  passagi-  as  vi-t-se  -'■>:  "tlu-rofore  he 
liatli  stretelied  forth  liis  hand."  On  tlu*  other  liaiul  it  has  been 
nottil  tliat  the  passatre  be^imiinfr  lO.l-i*.  ""win'  unto  thusi'  who 
tleereo  unrijrhteous  tleerees,"  seeuis  really  to  lielon;r  willi  tlie 
series  of  "woe"  stanzas  in  ehapter  5. 

The  one  weakness  in  verse  25  lies  in  stiehoi  e  and  d.  These 
can  hardly  be  eaMed  paralh'ls;  and  moreover  in  d  "and  liieir  ear- 
easses"  absolutely  disregards  stiehos  e  ("the  hills  did  trend>le") 
and  ivfers  baek  to  "people"  in  a  and  b.  Stiehos  e,  moreover, 
is  very  short  ;  either  a  pair  of  stiehoi.  then,  have  fallen  out,  one 
after  and  parallel  to  e,  the  other  before  and  parallel  to  d;  or 
else  from  e  t lit  re  has  fallen  out  a  phrase  wliieh  would  make  it 
|)ropirly  paralh  1  to  d  and  eontain  an  antieedent  for  "their"  in 
the  latter.  In  the  first  alteriuitive,  Is.  24.20  would  sujiply  a  basis 
for  a  parallel  to  "aiul  the  hills  did  tremble,"  namely,  "and  tiie 
earth  nniovtd  out  of  her  place";  while  'M.'.i  and  1').;',  wouhl 
offer  a  parallel  to  "their  earea.s.ses  were  torn  in  the  midst  of  the 
streets";  namely,  "and  the  slain  were  east  in  all  the  squares." 
U'a-x>'l'ilim  hiishl'khi'i  b'khol  r'xi'thln'ith.  But  as  a  matter  of  faet. 
tlu'  reference  to  the  trend)lin}:  of  the  hills  seems  out  of  plaee,  re- 
garded as  reference  to  an  earthquake,  and  the  second  alternative 
seems  to  recommend  itself.  Head  "and  the  hills  did  shake  with 
the  weight  of  the  slain,"  or,  better  still,  with  v'"'"'-?'/''  for 
itinj'zii.  "the  hills  did  flow  with  th.-  blood  of  the  slain,"  the 
tigure  found  in  Is.  :i4.:i:  "and  the  mountains  shall  be  melted 
with  their  lilood";  ef.  al.so  Ezek.  :{5.8,  "and  1  shall  (ill  his  moun- 
tains with  his  slain  men."  Other  suggestions  are:  wiij/iiirhu 
hit-\"h'irnii  b'khol  'iinnt,  "and  the  slain  were  numy  in  all  the 
citii-s"  (Gfi.H!).  or  "in  their  mid.st."  h<--qirhi'im.  Possibly  the 
missing  word  is  to  be  found  in  the  supert1uo\is  qmbli,  "the 
mitlst,"  in  the  next  stiehos;  b''-hfii;>''th,  "in  the  streets,"  is  even 
l>etter  than  "in  thi-  »»iiV/.<t/  of  the  .street.s,"  though  "in  all  the 
streets"  might  be  just  as  good;  qcrcbh  oeeiirs  227  times  in  the 
Old  Testament ;  it  invarial)ly  (except  hen-)  refers  to  thi'  interior 
of  a  single  object,  or  that  which  is  surrounded  by  a  number  of 


330  rdrallclism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  j 

objects  grouped  around  it.  The  accidental  omission  of  the  word 
X^ldllm,  "slain,"  might  have  been  due  to  its  exteriud  similarity 
to  he-harlm,  "mountains." 

26-29.    (26a)   Aud  lii>  will  lift  up  an  ensign  to  the  nations  afar, 
(b)   and  will  hiss  unto  them  from  the  end  of  the  earth:    (c)   and, 
behold,  they   [lit.  he]   shall  come  with  speed   swiftly.      (27a)   None 
shall  be  weary  nor  stumble  among  them  [lit.  there  is  none  wearying, 
and  there  is  none  stumbling  in  him] ;    (b)   none  shall  slumber  nor 
sleep   [lit.  he  does  not  slumber  and  he  does  not  sleep]  ;    (c)   neither 
shall  the  girdle  of  their  [his]  loins  be  loosed,  (d)  nor  the  latchet  of 
their   [his]   shoes  bo  broken:    (28a)   whose  arrows   (are)   sharp,   (b) 
and  all  their  [his]  bows  bent,  (e)  their  [his]  horses'  hoofs  shall  be 
counted  like  flint,  (d)  and  their  [his]  wheels  like  a  whirlwind:   (29a) 
Their  roaring   (.shall  be)  like  a  lion  [lit.,  a  roaring  to  him  like  the 
lion],   (b)   they  shall  roar   [lit.  either  "and  he  shall  roar"  or  sim- 
ply, "he  shall  roar"]  like  young  lions,  (c)  yea  they  shall  roar  [and 
he  shall  growl]  and  lay  hold  of  the  prey,   (d)   and  shall  carry   (it) 
away  safe,  (e)  and  none  shall  deliver. 
Whether  this  highh'  dramatic  and  formally  almost  perfect 
prophetic  poem  belongs  with  what  immediately  precedes  or  not, 
is  uncertain.     If  it  does,  it  emphasizes  still  more  strongly  that 
the  two  words  in  vi'rs(>  25  referring  to  earthquake  are   to  be 
emended. 

As  divided  above  the  prophecy  contains  sixteen  lines ;  but  27a 
and  b  might  each  be  divided  into  two  stichoi  (four  in  all),  giving 
eighteen.  Except  possiblj-  at  two  points,  the  parallelism  is 
absolutely  patent ;  the  distiehs  group  themselves ;  a  closer  affinity 
between  some  of  the  distiehs  makes  possible  also  a  stanza  divi- 
sion. The  fir.st  possible  excejition  is  26c:  "and,  behold,  lie  shall 
come  with  speed  swiftly,""  ;\liieli  has  no  exact  syiuniymous  par- 
allel. Nevertheless,  it  does  form  a  complementary  parallel  to 
either  111-  both  of  the  first  two  stichoi:  God  signals  to  them  [him], 
lie  calls  to  them,  they  answer  him ;  i.e.,  there  may  be  here  a  three 
line  inti-oductory  stanza  exactly  like  the  opening  of  chapter  1. 
On  the  other  hand  the  line  also  is  parallel  to  the  following  stichos, 
27a  :  Swiftly  they  come :  none  wearies  or  stumbles.  This  would 
make  of  the  second  stanza  (beginning,  then,  with  2()c  i  one  of  an 
odd  number  of  stichoi.  And  finalh'  there  is  the  jiossibility  of 
regarding  26e  as  a  distich  in  itself,  for  it  contains  two  synonyms: 

[  386  ] 


I'aralhlisni   in   Isaiah.  Chnptirs   I-IO  X.\\ 

ClIAlTER   .") 

"spi'fdily"  and  •■swiftly";  aiul  (l.si>itr  .loil  ^.l,  wlu-iv  thi-  siinu' 
two  lulvcrbs  art'  joiiu-il  ulosely  tojfctlu'r  to  modify  one  verb 
again,  Isaiah  may  luivc  intcndi-d  a  stron";  cat-sura:  "and  behold ! 
speedily — swiftly  they  eome";  or  else  the  donlilc  adverb  with 
sinjrle  verb  here  may  be  a  seribal  error  due  just  to  the  fact 
that  sueh  was  the  eominon  pi-ose  usa^e ;  Isaiah's  muhi'r  shCildl 
^tlsh  biK  in  S.l,  ;t :  "Swift  |is|  booty,  speedy  (is]  prey,"  showini; 
parallelism  even  in  a  proper  nann',  may  indieate  that  orijtin- 
ally  there  stood  lu-re  hinnr  ni'ht'ni  i/i;'"/*  or  tiiiqum,  qui  iiabho: 
"lol  swiftly  he  rises;  (piiekly  he  eonies";  or  simply  ir^'-hinui' 
y'lmihi'r,  qi'il  iidbhn':  "lo,  he  iiastens;  swiftly  he  eomes. "  That, 
despite  the  simplieity  of  the  ti'Xt,  the  eopyist  has  manajred  to  err 
is  shown  by  i/iiiiini,  "tuitions, "  iu  verse  26a,  a  plural  for  the 
intendeil  sinfiular.  It  should  be  noted  that  ;/«//.  "nation,"  with- 
out the  plural  endinp,  mi'^ht  be  a  eoUeetive,  and  hence  be  treated 
as  a  gramnuitieal  plural  in  syntax;  and  still  the  author  has  de- 
liberately treated  it  as  a  sin<,'ular  in  the  same  sentence  ("he  will 
hiss  ti>  him,"  In'  and  fifteen  times  in  the  whole  passajre.  It 
would  be  ehariliible  to  the  copyist  to  suppose  that  he  found  the 
letters  i/»"  on  the  nuirpin,  intended  jus  a  correction  of  a  imihfr, 
found  in  the  text,  to  y'nuihfr,  as  jiroposed  above;  and  that  he 
mistook  thasi-  letters  as  a  correction  of  yoi/,  found  iu  the  text,  to 
yoyhii.  At  all  events,  it  must  be  repeated  that  the  line  26e 
as  it  stands  cannot  be  definitely  claimed  as  a  non-])arallelistic 
stichos. 

The  other  possibly  doubtful  point  oeeurs  in  the  tinal  stanza, 
29a-e,  which  yields  a  pentastieh  as  I  have  divided  it.  There  is 
no  reason  why  Isaiah  shoidd  not  have  used  a  closin<r  pentastieh 
— partieidarly  if  the  optiiiu};  stanza  be  regarded  as  having  an 
uneven  number  of  sfiehoi.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the 
wordinj;  offers  internal  evidence  of  disorder.  The  npitition  iu 
29a  and  b  of  the  rtmt  shil'ayh,  "roar,"  with  parallel  phrases 
"like  the  lion,"  kal-l'ihlii'  and  "like  the  ytjunp  lions"  (or  "like 
[its]  whelps"),  kak-k''phJrUii,  is  offensive;  evt-n  the  Ma.>4.soretie 
tratlition  in  regard  to  the  exact  form  of  the  root  (WshiVayh  or 
yigh'iiyh)  shows  possibly  sfinie  disorder  here.  thou|.'h   this  point 

[387] 


332  Phralhlisiii  in  Isaiali,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  5 

cannot  \w  pressed  bj-  itself;  but  again  just  here  the  Septuagint, 
whicli  lip  to  this  point  represents  exactly  the  Hebrew  text,  shows 
a  variant  reading.  Notice,  now,  that  in  the  Hebrew  there  stands 
by  itself  a  synonymous  verb,  yinhom,  inserted  after  "he  shall 
roar  like  young  lions";  the  English  addition  of  "yea"  before  it 
is  an  attempt  to  gloss  over  the  inelegance  of  the  Hebrew.  At- 
tempts to  show  that  there  is  intended  a  real  progress  of  ideas 
in  passing  from  yish'agh,  "he  roars,"  to  "yinhom,  "he  growls" 
or  "moans"  (see  BDB,  s.v.  nlihmn,  referring  to  W.  R.  Smith, 
Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  243)  are  not  entirely  satisfactory;  that 
the  roar  "marks  the  moment  of  his  spring,  the  sudden  moan- 
ing that  follows  shows  that  the  pr(  ij  is  secured"  is  contradicted 
by  the  Hebrew  text  itself,  which  has  this  order  of  words :  roar, 
growl,' then  seize.  Curiously  enough,  the  Septuagint  has  made 
the  transposition  demanded  by  W.  R.  Smith's  interpretation  :  kuI 
iTri\r]-\jr€TaL  Koi  iSorjaeL  a>?  6r)piov:  "he  seizes  and  growls  like  the 
wild  beast."  in  which  the  last  word  may  represent  kat-toreph, 
lilerally,  "like  the  seizing  one,"  instead  of  the  Hebrew  tercph 
("prey.""  without  the  preposition  "like").  But  the  Septuagint 
also  avoids  the  double  occurrence  of  sh.d'a(jh,  "roar":  and  that 
this  is  nut  due  to  the  translator's  feeling  for  style  is  sho\m  by 
the  fact  that  he  does  repeat  the  other  word  yinhom  ("moan": 
^oriaei  in  verses  29  and  30) .  For  the  second  occurrence  of  sha  'ar/h 
it  reads  irapeuT-qKav.  i.e.,  either  w^-ndgash  (or  yiggash),  "he 
draws  near";  oi'  ivJi/sslgh  (or  yasstgh),  he  will  "reach," 
"overtake"  (with  sin  foi-  sa-melih).  which  would  indeed  be  an 
a]ipi'o|.riiite  word  in  the  eoiite.xl  :  cf.  Wn-.  (i.l4:  w'-lhassri/h 
w'-lf>'  iaphllf.  "take  hold  (or  reaeli)  but  not  deliver"  (tlie  hist 
is  the  same  W(U-d  translated  "carry  away  safe"  in  the  ])reseiit 
Isaiah  passage:  yiiplilil).  Either  tlie  Septuagint  has  the  better 
text,  or  els(>  its  variations  show  at  least  some  disorder  in  the 
ti-adition.  The  combined  evidence  points  to  the  following: 
yisli  'aijli  was  written  by  mistake ;  yinhom  was  written  over  it  or 
in  the  margin,  and  meant  to  replace  it ;  the  copyist  instead  added 
it  after  l{ak-k<'phlrim,  while  the  Septuagint  added  it  after  yoxez, 
supjiosiiig  that  the  mark  or  line  indicating  erasure  of  y/.s/i 'rrry/j 
nternil  only  to  one  of  its  consonants,  the  middle  'alcf. 
f  .188  ] 


i'iinilhlisw   ill   Isaiah,  Cluiiit.rs    l-IO  :<:(:! 

t'llAlTEK   .'i 

The  last  ami  I'l.iu-lmliii^'  liiif  of  the  po.'iu  ir'-'fii  mrtvc''.  "a<'<l 
HOIK'  I'Mii  srtvo,"  is  iiitciitioiially  and  ilraiiiatiually  short;  vi.  tlu' 
note  OH  1.31.    With  5.2l)-29  read,  pi-rhaps,  l().28-;r_'. 

30.  (a)  And  in  tliat  day  tliey  [lio|  .shall  roar  aRaiiist  them  (him) 
like  the  roaring  of  the  sea:  (b)  ami  if  one  look  into  the  land,  behold 
darknesM  (and)  sorrow,  (c)  and  the  light  is  darkened  in  the  heavens 
thereof. 
Versi-  30a.  if  orijjiiial  lu'tv,  is  a  paraiirl  to  29a ;  but  probably 
it  was  placed  by  the  eompiler  after  the  picture  eomplcted  in 
verse  29  beeause  it  eontains  afjaiii  the  verb  ijiiihom,  "roar."  The 
latter  j)art  of  tlie  verse  is  very  similar  to  8.22;  indeed,  following 
;i.30  and  cxtendiii';  into  or  through  8.20  is  a  series  of  interrelated 
proj)heeies  whieh  jirobably  at  one  time  formed  a  separate  collec- 
tion;  if  this  collection  be  set  aside  for  the  moment,  5.30  and  8.22 
come  into  clo.se  physical  pro.ximity ;  and  one  may  well  be  a  mere 
variant  of  the  other.  Though  both  are  defective,  the  combined 
result  gives  a  picture  (piite  other  than  that  completed  in  5.29: 
it  is  not  that  of  a  victim  in  the  jaws  of  a  lion,  but  of  a  wanderer 
looking  in  vain  for  light  and  guidance.  That  the  difference  in 
pictuiv  begins  even  in  stichos  a  is  evidenced  by  the  change  in 
rhythm,  and  especially  by  the  phra.se  "on  that  day."  Hut 
whether  stichos  a  belongs  with  b  and  e,  or  is  merely  a  fugitive 
line,  is  not  certain.  Yliihom,  "he  shall  roar,"  can  be  used  figur- 
atively of  men,  who  "groan"  in  distress,  or  "roar"  in  wrath 
(Prov.  ij.ll;  p:z(k.  24.23:  cf.  Prov.  19.12,  20.2;  Ps.  38.9);  and 
though  ijinhi'im  is  not  of  frequent  occurrence,  the  synonym 
shiVaijh  is  used  also  of  Vahwe  (so  in  Amos  1.2;  Joel  3.16;  Jer. 
25..!0i.  perhaps  as  a  more  foreililc  alternative  for  f/il'iir  ("re- 
buke"; in  modern  Arabic  ja'ara,  for  the  cla.ssical  ja'arn,  means 
"bellow,"  "groan"),  whieh  occurs  in  17.13,  a  pas.sage  whieh 
again  is  similar  in  thought  to  tht>  pres<>nt  one  and  like  if  eontains 
th''  simile  of  the  roaring  sea.  Ileri-  then  iiinhom  might  refer 
either  to  the  rebuke  of  (iod  administered  to  the  wandering  sin- 
ner, or  to  the  groan  of  the  wanderer  himself. 

The  .synta.x  in  stichoi  b,  e  is  most  obscure;  literally  "ho  will 
bxik  for  the  land  and  behold  darkness  (of?)  di.stress  and  light  is 


t  •■'89 


Parallelism  iit  Isaiah.  Chaplers  1-10 


darkened  in  her  elouds""  [ba-'"rlphnia :  a  dira^  Xeyo^i-et'ov;  Eii<;. 
"in  the  heavens  thereof").  The  suspicious  repetition  of  the  root 
xashakh  is  avoided  by  the  Septuagint,  which  omits  it  in  stichos  c, 
together  with  'dr.  "light";  8.22,  however,  shows  that  its  occur- 
rence in  stiehos  b  here  is  superfluous.  Possibly  for  ha-  oriphehd 
simply  '"rdphii  should  be  read  (cf.  Deut.  4.11)  :  "deep  dark- 
ness," without  preposition  or  suffix:  so  the  Septuagint:  o-ko'to? 
(TKXrjpov ;  though  it  attaches  the  preposition  to  qara  apparently : 
ev  rrj  a-TTopia  (cf.  8.22,  where  cnropia  is  <;drd)  ;  at  any  rate  tlie 
Septuagint  shows  clearly  the  crowding  and  confusion  of  the 
words  as  evidenced  by  the  Massoretic  text  itself.  The  original 
form  of  the  verse  may  then  have  been : 

He  looks  for  [or  to]  the  land,  and  lo!  distress! 

For  light — and  (behold)  darkness  and  cloud  [or  'and  darkened 
are  the  clouds']. 

The  style  and  parallelism  resemble,  then,  tliose  of  5.7:  "He 
hoped  for  justice  and  lo  I  bloodshed :  for  righteousness,  and  lo ! 
a  cry";  even  the  paronomasia,  striking  there,  has  its  counter- 
part here,  thougli  the  play  is  more  subtle:  on  hd-'dre(;,  "the 
land,"  and,  with  tlie  same  consonants  in  reverse  order,  gdrd, 
"distress";  Id-'ilr.  "fur  tlie  light,"  and  with  quasi-assonance, 
'"rdpJx'l.  "clouds." 


Ch.vpter  6 

Chapter  6  describes  the  Prophet's  call,  and  down  to  vei-se  8 
it  is  mostly  pure  prose  narration.  Where,  how^ever,  direct  dis- 
course is  introduced,  parallelism  may  possibly  have  been  in- 
tended; also,  even  in  verse  7.  wliere  Tsaiali  merely  repeats  his 
own  thoughts, 

Woe  is  nie,  for  I  am  undone; 

For  I  am  a  man  of  uufdean  lips. 

And  amid  a  people  of  unclean  lips  I  dwell ; 

For  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  king.  Lord  of  Hosts — 

a  form  of  "envelope"  parallelism  may  be  discerned.     But  the 
fdrnial  i)aralle]ism  here  mav  lie  due  mereh-  to  force  of  lialiit  ;  the 


Isiiitih,  Cluipti 


tliiiiitrlit  paralli-lisiii  is  iK.t  ixrlict.  A^'airi  in  v.rsf  i.  \hr  words 
lit'  tlir  SiTapli,  put  ill  tliu  form  of  ilii'fct  discourse, 

Tliinc  iiii(|uity  is  tnkrn  iiway, 

Ami  thy  win  purged 

fni-iii  a  paralU'listii'  distii-h  ;  the  pn'i-cdiiiy  stii-lios,  howovcr,  "Lo, 
this  liath  touuhod  thy  lips,"  stands  alone;  and  althoujrli  it  mifrlit 
be  omitted  as  an  absolutely  superfluous  line,  sinee  it  follows  the 
words,  "he  laid  it  upon  my  mouth,"  the  parallelism  itself  may 
be  ajjain  mere  foree  of  habit.  Similiirly,  in  verse  S.  when-  in  the 
words  of  (iod, 

Wlioiii  xhM  I  ri.n.l, 

And  wlio  will  (JO  t'or  ii.s  t 

stieliiis  b  is  a  parallelistie  repetition  of  stielios  a. 

However  that  may  be.  the  moment  that  the  words  of  God  in 
the  form  of  a  pro|)heey  i)roper — an  oracle  for  the  people — bepin, 
])arallelism  beeomes  perfect  and  the  diction  poetic:  vei-se  9  is  a 
perfect  distich:  verse  10  consists  of  two  perfect  parallelistie  tri- 
stiehs  with  additional  inverted  intra-parallelism,  line  answering 
to  line  in  a  manner  more  exact  even  than  the  Enfilish  reveals, 
since  "shut  their  eyes"  is  in  Hebrew  haslui' ,  "cause  to  be 
smeand.  '  of  the  same  linguistic  formation  as  the  jxirallel 
hiisluiiiii  and  luikhbi'dh,  "cause  to  be  fat"  and  "cause  to  be 
heavy." 

The  Hl-st  possible  difficulty  occurs  in  the  last  phrase  of 
verse  10:  '•and  convert  and  be  healed,"  niishiibh  u'niphfi'  h'l; 
but  there  is  absolutely  no  reji-son  why  these  words  here  shoidd 
not  be  read  as  a  distich  : 

Aii.l   |l('^>t|   it  return, 

Aii.l  he  henleil; 

for  each  verb  is  n  complete  proposition,  and  the  parallelism  is 

complementary  as  is  shown  clearly  in  1J).2'J: 

Tliey  ahnll  return  (ii-- i«/i<ib/iii)  to  tlie  Lord, 

Anil  he  shnll  l)0  entreated  and  heni  them   [r''i>hti'um]; 

with  w  hich  compare  Hosen  6.1 : 

Come  let  us  return  to  the  Lord ; 
For  he  hnth  smitten  and  will  henI  us. 

N'o  prejnilirment  as  to  the  nece.s.sary  length  of  a  line — that  a  sin- 


[391] 


336  ranillctisiii   in  Isaiah.  CJurptcrs  1-10 

Chapter  6 

gle  word,  even  if  it  is  a  eomplete  proposition,  may  not  form  a 
thought  and  line  entity — should  outweigh  the  patent  evidence 
of  parallelism.  And  if  nevertheless  these  words  be  considered 
one  stichos,  they  still  could  not  be  considered  as  clearly  not  in 
parallelism  to  the  rest  of  the  strophe  since  "lest  they  be  healed" 
is  clearly  synonymous  with  "lest  they  (the  blinded  of  eyes)  see." 

Verse  11  begins  with  the  words  of  the  Prophet  to  God,  in  the 
query.  "IIow  long?"  No  parallelism  is  to  be  expected  there. 
But  the  answering  prophecy  of  God  begins  in  verse  11  with  a 
tristieh.  of  which  the  first  two  stichoi  are  in  perfect  parallelism, 
while  the  third,  less  exact,  is  suspicious;  it  continues  in  a  distich 
(verse  12)  of  almost  perfect  parallelism;  but  ends,  in  verse  13, 
in  a  series  of  phrases  in  which,  while  some  of  the  elements  of 
parallelism  can  still  be  seen,  the  form  is  blurred,  while  at  the 
same  time:  (a)  the  thought  not  only  lacks  clarity  but  is  seem- 
ingly illogical;  (b)  the  .syntax  is  correspondinglj^  involved;  (c) 
the  choice  of  words  is  remarkable,  involving  not  only  the  weak 
repetition  of  one  woi'd  but  the  iisi'  of  it  in  an  almost  unintelli- 
gibly perverted  meiinin^':  (di  the  Septuagint  shows  important 
variants,  while  in  the  rest  of  the  cluipter  it  shows  none.  The 
following  suggestions  are  offered. 

Verse  11.  SJul'il,  "be  wasted"  in  stichos  a,  and  tishCi't,  "be 
wasted"  (Eng.  "be  desolate")  in  stichos  c,  show  inelegant  repe- 
tition, while  '(/(//(  '"shcr  'iin,  literally  "until  that  when."  in 
stichos  a  is  a  rare  and  overloaded  phrase  in  place  of  the  simple 
'adh  (with  the  imperfect  in  Is.  22.14,  26.20,  32.15.  etc.:  wi1li  'iin 
in  Is.  30.17.)  :  the  redundant  '"shrr.  (hen,  points  to  a  re;il  variant 
reading:  'adh  iiishsIxV'Tri  or  'adli  'iiii  iiiah'")-!!  in  stichos  a.  oi' 
to  ti.shrrrr  in  e:  the  whole  of  stiehos  e,  however,  ir' h ,1-'"<I li u ma 
tishrrr  sh<„„hii-i.  ••ami  the  land  be  wasted  a  desolation."  is  more 
])raliably  due  to  marginal  variants,  as  will  be  explained  below. 

Verse  12.  For  wc-rixaq  'eth  hd-'ddhdm,  "and  the  Lord  have 
removed  men  far  away."  read  tV-ri-xaq  sho'ath  ha-'"dh(liiin, 
"and  tli<'  Lord  (■xteiid  far  the  desolation  of  the  land."  This 
gives  to  riyiii  its  iiatni-al  meaning  when  not  followed  by  the 
|)re]iositiou   mill    ("from";  ef.  26.1'),   "thou  hast   far  extended 


[392; 


I'tirallilisiii   in   Isuiah.  ('Iinijti  rs   I- 10  .i'M 

t'll.M'TF.K    l> 

[ri\(iiilii]  till-  liiiiiiKlarit's  <>t'  lli<-  land"),  aixl  inaki's  it  parallel 
to  tin-  vcrl)  ill  tlif  parallel  stii-lids.  It  was  proliahly  a  i-drrcct 
l)Ht  inisiiiuicrstdod  grloss  sho'iilh  ("ilcsolatidii,"  iiitciulcil  to  cor- 
rict  'I'th,  sigu  of  ai-ciisativf)  whifli  was  rcspoiisiMc  for  the 
iiiforroi't  slul'Ci  in  11a,  ami  for  the  ti.ihiVf  in  lie;  while  sh'tni'inul 
ill  lie  was  another  <;ldss  on  the  same  word  'rth;  sho'dlli,  found 
also  ill  1().:{.  47.11,  Wdnld  l>e  strietly  parallel  to  li<i-''':ftbliri  in 
\'2h.  ll('t-'"ilhi\iiii~t,  "tin-  ^roiiiul."  the  remainiiif;  word  in  lie, 
is  ajjain  a  true  {jloss  to  hd-'Ctdh'tm  in  12a;  by  restoring  it,  par- 
allelism with  hd-'iini;,  "the  earth"  is  made  perfect,  and  the 
repetition  of  '(hlhtlni,  used  just  previously  (verse  11),  avoided. 
It  is  possible,  thoufrh  not  neeessary,  to  read  for  nibbd  "be 
fjreat,"  nlx"blii'i  or  hirxlbh,  "be  '  or  "make  broad";  hii-'"zubh<l 
would  then  be  not  "the  forsaking'"'  but  the  "forsaken  |)drtii>ii 
of"  as  in  17.9.    Kcconstruetioii : 

ic"'-rix«</   Yahirf  shii'ath  liu-'"dhtimii 

wt-nxobh  ha-  '"ciibltu  h'qcrebh  hit-  'Arc(. 

X'erse  III.  It  is  not  clear,  sis  the  verse  stands,  whether  the 
Prophet  is  prediefiii},'  ab.solute  destruction  or  the  saving  of  a 
remnant;  the  words  "Hut  yet  in  it  be  a  tenth,  and  it  shall  re- 
turn, and  shall  lu-  eaten"  point  to  absolute  destruction,  as  do 
perhajts  the  words  in  vei-se  10,  "lest  it  return  and  be  healed"; 
and  while  the  concluding  phrase  in  vei-se  13,  "so  the  holy  seed 
shall  be)  the  substance  thereof,"  literally,  ".seed  of  holiness 
(is)  its  pillar,"  seems  to  point  to  the  contrarj-,  just  the  words 
"holiness  its  pillar"  are  missing  from  the  Septuagint,  and  abso- 
lutely otTeiid  all  si'ii.se  of  rhythm,  style,  and  .synta.x.  M<i<,\(bfth, 
A.  V.  "substance,"  which  occurs  inelegantly  twice  in  the  sen- 
tence, to  give  it  a  semblance  of  fitne.ss  is  by  critics  translated 
generally  in  this  pa.s.sage  "stump,"  "stock,"  "shoot,"  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  it  occurs  over  forty  times  iu  the  Old 
Testament,  invariably  with  the  meaning  "stone  pillar,"  while 
the  language  has  various  common  words  to  denote  "stump,"  or 
"stocJc,"  "shoot"  of  a  tree. 

On  the  other  hand  the  evidence  is  strong  that  Isaiah  did 
intend  to  predict   llie  .saving  of  a   remnant — that   the  absolute 


338  Punillelism  in  Isai<ih,  Chapters  1-10 

CHjiJPTER    6 

destruction  refers  to  the  destruction  of  the  existiug  Israelitish 
state  ("this  people"),  not  of  the  race.  This  is  borne  out  by 
the  Prophet's  question  "how  long,  my  Lord?" — a  strange 
question  if  the  Prophet  meant  the  preceding  words  to  refer  to 
absolute  annihilation;  and  by  tlie  answer  in  13a:  "until  there 
be  a  great  forsaking"  (or  as  emended,  •'until  the  destruction  be 
far  and  wide")  "and  until  there  still  lie  (but)  a  tenth  in  the 
land":  we-'ddh  bah  '"shlrlyd.  In  13b  the  phrase  "and  it  shall 
return,"  iv^-shdhha,  might  still  point  toward  the  saving  of  a 
remnant;  but  with  the  phrase  "and  it  shall  be  eaten,"  w<'-hdyd 
If-hhd'er,  there  is  a  sudden  change.  If  the  prophecy  ended 
here,  that  change,  by  its  very  abruptness  and  unexpectedness 
would  be  highly  effective,  and  in  keeping  with  Isaiah's  manner. 
But  despite  the  confusion  in  the  appended  simile  ("like  an 
oak,"  etc.),  it  does  not  seem  possible  to  treat  all  of  it  as  a  gloss; 
and  the  words  that  are  a  glo.ss,  "holy"  and  "substance,"  have 
cauglit  apparently  the  real  intention.  The  difiSculty,  then,  lies 
in  the  word  I'^-hhd'er,  "for  destruction" — for  to  predict  the 
saving  of  a  tenth  and  then  the  destruction  of  the  tenth  could 
mean  nothing  but  absolute  destruction. 

The  word  "for  destruction,"  then,  is,  I  believe,  one  of  those 
careless  copyist's  slips,  or  misreadings.  that  have  been  noticed 
before;  it  is  in  part  due  to  5.5,  where  it  occurs  in  its  proper 
place,  supported  by  parallelism;  here  it  is  not  in  parallelism, 
and  not  in  place.  For  If-hhd'er  read  U-she'dr,  "for  a  remnant" ; 
both  fitness  and  parallelism  are  restored:  "until  there  be  (but) 
a  tenth,  and  it  be  again  (or  still)  for  a  remnant."  Moreover, 
this  supplies  just  the  line  that  is  missing  from  the  cycle  of 
prophecies — the  origin  here  at  the  outset  of  the  Prophet's  career, 
of  his  several  references  to  the  phrase  sh^'dr  ydshubh,  applied 
even  as  a  proper  name  to  his  son.  Sh'^'dr  for  the  Prophet  means 
not  only  "a  small  remnant,"'  but  implies  also  the  development 
of  that  remnant  into  a  new  growth;  in  14.22  it  accordingly 
appears  in  a  series  of  terms,  "name,  remnant,  son,  posterity" 
(Eng.  "nephew").  And  that  ydshubh  does  not  mean  literally 
"return,"  but  connoti'S  "be  in  turn,"  "still  be"'  (cf.  'odh.  both 

[394] 


runiihiisiii  ii>  isuiiih.  ciuiiitos  1-10  :?;{;> 

ClIM-TKK    11 

'•iifrain"  and  ■"still")  Itccoiiu's  clnir  rnnu  lO.li'J.  wliicli  can  mraii 
only:  '•tlioujfli  thy  pt'oplo,  O  Israel,  an-  liki-  the  saiiil  of  the  sea, 
a  reiiinaiit  (ami  only  a  remnant)  shall  still  lie  therein  [notice 
the  preposition]  :  destruetiou  is  decreed" — not  "a  remnant  shall 
return:  captivity  is  decreed."  There  is  perhaps  in  this  use  of 
i/dskiibh  some  reference  to  ytshebh,  "remain"  (as  in  its  use  with 
sli'biilh,  "captivity,"  there  is  a  play  on  the  root  of  that  word)  ; 
Hdshiibh  \w\i\g  used  because  it  means  also  "repent":  tiie  full 
thought  then  is:  "a  n'liiiiaiit  shall  ivp.nt  and  (therefore)  be- 
come again  a  nation." 

If  this  change  be  possible  the  way  is  elear  for  a  reconstruction 
of  the  remaintler  of  verse  13.  The  picture  back  of  the  simile  of 
the  oak  and  terebinth  as  a  symbol  of  the  remnant  is  suggested  by 
a  characteristic  feature  in  .sonu'  parts  of  the  land.  Thus  on  the 
road  from  Danuiseus  to  Brak  and  the  Leja  (Ilauran),  on  a  hill- 
side in  the  midst  of  an  otherwise  treeless  but  only  partly  culti- 
vated plain,  grows  a  single  oak  that  because  of  its  isolation  is  a 
laiulmark  and  gives  to  the  hill  the  name  Tell  Abu  Shajara: 
"Hill.  Father  of  the  Tree."  If  now  for  the  impos-sible 
tiiiii,u;ibhilh  the  partlL-iple  >iiuri;i  bin  III.  "caused  to  be  standing." 
i.e.,  "left  standing."  be  read,  the  very  significant  pa.s.sage 
Judges  9.6  is  recalled:  'floii  )}iU(;<,('ibli,  "the  oak  left  standing 
(Eng.  "plain  of  the  pillar")  by  Shcchem";  this,  if  the  text  is 
correct,  also  refers  to  a  single  oak  left  when  the  valley  was 
cleared  to  make  way  for  the  orchards  of  olives  and  fields  of 
grain.  H'shalUkhrlh  (Eng.,  "when  they  ea.st"),  would  mean 
then  either  "at  the  time  of  felling"  or  "in  the  place  of  felling,"' 
"in  a  clearing."  For  '"shir,  "which,"  read,  with  dittography 
of  the  >i  from  the  preceding  'iiUon,  uish'dr,  "remaining,"  par- 
allel to  iiuii;i;ibhith  and  referring  indirectly  to  ,s/i' Mr.  restored 
above.  ISitm  :irn'  ("in  them,"  ".seed":  such  is  the  Hebrew 
order  of  the  words)  should  be  read  together  bam-mizra' ,  "seed- 
land,"  occurring  again  in  Is.  19.7,  and  common  in  Arabic, 
iiMzra'a,  in  that  sen.se;  here  parallel  to  "clearing."  The  final 
two  words  shoidd  W  omitted.  Lifting  the  stiehos  ii-kho-'alldn 
'"slur  I  i.e..  ni.ih'or)   b'shalli  khi  th  from  its  disturbing  position, 

[  395  ] 


340  Panilhlisni  in  Isuiah,  CJuiptrrs  1-10 

Chapter  0 

and  pliK'iiig  it  j)arallel  to  instead  of  in  tin-  heart  of  the  other 

stiehos,  there  results: 

Kd-'tla  mui'fchlii'th  ham-mizia' 

W^kha-'alUm  nish'dr  bf-sluill-elheth. 

Like  a  terebinth  left  standing  in  a  sowu-land, 

Like  an  oak  remaining  in  a  clearing. 

Compare  tlien  also  10.19,  where  Isaiah  again  uses  sh'''dr: 
"and  the  remainder  of  the  trees  of  the  forest  .shall  be  imf  in 
number.  ■"  Notice  that  the  restoration  of  the  couplet  above,  aside 
from  the  omission  of  the  last  two  words,  involves  nothing  but 
transposition,  and  a  disregard  in  places  of  the  (late)  ilassoretic 
vowels. 


C'H.tPTER  7 

2.  See  on  verse  4. 

3.  The  reference  to  the  scene  of  the  pi-ophec,v  as  at  ""the 
Upper  Pool"  (probably  the  Pool  of  Siloam)  possibly  was  in- 
tended for  chapter  8;  these  two  prophecies  are  absolutely  par- 
allel, and  refer  probably  to  the  course  of  the  same  event ;  the 
refei-ence  to  "the  waters  of  Shiloh"  in  8.5  receives  a  peculiar 
appropriateness  if  brought  into  connection  with  this  reference 
to  the  pool  in  chapter  7;  and  the  reference  to  the  Prophet's  son 
Shear-Jashub  here  in  7.3  ha.s  some  point  if  eonueeted  with  S.2. 
where  Isaiah's  wife  and  unborn  son  are  mentioned. 

4.  "From  these  two  tails":  "two"  is  possibly  an  error;  read 
"from  these  tails,"  referring  not  to  the  two  kings  themselves, 
but  their  agents  in  a  plot  to  overthrow  the  dynasty.  The  his- 
torical introduction  in  verse  1,  if  it  implies  that  the  two  kings 
themselves  were  at  the  time  of  the  prophecy  actually  besieging 
Jerusalem,  must  be  disregarded  (see  also  on  verse  14)  ;  it  is  at 
variance  with  verse  2,  according  to  which  it  was  told  merely 
"that  Syria  is  confederate  with  Ephraim."  literally,  "has 
alighted  upon  Ephraim" — a  remarkable  verse  if  the  Syrian  and 
Israelitish  kings  were  actually  near  the  gates,  as  would  be  also 
verse  15,  promising  relief  from  the  supposed  siege  only  after 
several  years.     In  verses  5  and  6,  too,  the  prophecy  is  directed 


[  •■'9'! : 


J'arall'  lixiii   in   Isaiiih,  ( 'ha fit <  is   J- In  ".  H 

ClIAl'TEK    7 

ajiaiiist  Syria  ami  K|)liraiin  ■■l)ccaiise  they  saiil  "let  us  ffo  up" — 
not  ht'caiisf  "fliry  huvi-  (•(imc  uj)";  set'  also  on  vci-sc  H.  •"Tails," 
then,  has  licri-  a  doulilc  iiH'aning:  thi-  conspirators,  or  thrcatt'ii- 
in<r  Pinissaries  (soo  S.12)  arc  only  "tails"  (the  "heads"  arc  nicn- 
tioncti  in  verse  8)  ;  only  sniokinj;  stumps,  sinokiiifr  because  of 
the  heat  of  tlie  real  fire — the  an^M-  of  the  two  kinps  or  the  two 
countries:  "of  Kezin  with  (lit.  "and")  Syria  and  flu-  son  of 
Hcmaliah";  hut  either  insert  "and  Ephraim"  CEph  as  a  re- 
duplication from  'aph  ["anper],  nii/im  from  li'rin).  or  omit 
"with  Syria."  Restoriufr  the  iiaralli'lism  liy  transposition  of 
hi'i-'"sh  fill  III : 

J/irraiibft.W/i   hii'iidhim   ha'iU,' 

hu-'«ahi'nhi    bi>x""    '"/'ft    ifffn    iihlii  liji'  nmljiiihi'i : 

From  thc!<t'  ciiiIb  of  fire  bramlM, 

Smoking  tlirouKli  the  wrath  of  Roziii  nii<l  tlic  son  of  Ri'iiialiali. 

5.  In.scrt  \i'ishabh,  "devised,"  before  rfiTi,  "evil,"  and  jinr- 
allel  to  ifd'iii;,  "taken  counsel" ;  the  latter  with  '(//,  "apiinst," 
re(|uires  no  copnate  accu.sative  to  frive  it  the  desired  meanin;?; 
ef.  19.17:  "beeau.se  of  the  counsel  of  the  Lord  which  he  hath 
counselled  (yiVai;)  apainst  it."  For  x''*'"'^''  »■'''''  '«'  t'f-  -I^'r. 
4S.2:  "they  have  devised  evil  against  it  \xi'isli'hhi'i  r<YCi  Tih'hil]  : 
eome  let  us  cut  it  oflF  from  being  a  nation."    Restore: 

Tu'an  W  j/«'af  •  aUkha   '.iram 
tcay-j/axihobh   tH'A    'Kphrai/im. 

6.  S'qli^-iiind,  "let  us  ve.x  her,"  is  literally  "fill  her  with 
loathinp,"  and  might  be  then  "fill  with  disafTeetion"  (the  Sep- 
tuagint  <rv\\a\T)(Tairr€^  avroU  "talk  with  tln-m,"  may  again  have 
intended  a  reference  to  plotting)  ;  it  is  true  that  the  same  root 
below  seems  to  mean  "fear"  (hence,  here,  "let  us  fill  her  with 
fear") :  but  this  is  hardly  appropriate  in  the  context  of  verse  6. 
Ea.sy  changes  give  the  root.s  qd<;ai;:  "cut  up"  (parallel  then 
to  the  next  verb,  "make  a  breach  therein")  ;  qi<;  or  i/dqai;, 
"awaken,"  "stir  up";  (uq,  "bring  into  straits";  or  finally, 
n''qii;f.iiHd  may  be  merely  a  variant  of  the  next  word  lutbhqVriiiia; 
if  omitted,  the  same  collocation  i>(  words  remains  as  in  II  f'hron. 
21.17:  irniiija'''lii  hhihudhii  uaijiiibhqiV  iilni,  "tiny  tame  up 
into  Jndali  and  broke  into  it." 


342  ParaUplisiu   in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  7 

"And  set  a  king  iu  the  midst  of  it,  .(even)  the  son  of 
Tabeal":  the  casual  nature  of  the  final  phrase  is  hardly  con- 
cealed by  the  English  insertion  of  "even."  The  indefinite 
cognate  accusative  (lit.  "let  us  make  king  a  king")  should 
properly  denote  that  the  name  of  the  king  is  unknown  or  to  be 
concealed,  the  emphasis  being  placed  on  the  appointing  power; 
here  practically  then  "let  us  exercise  the  king-of-kingship";  this 
interpretation,  too,  would  explain  the  unique  u.se  of  the  phrase 
"in  the  very  midst  of  her."  The  proper  name  may  have  been 
appended:  (a)  as  a  later  gloss  (like  other  proper  names  in  this 
series  of  prophecies) ;  or  (b)  to  produce  appositional  parallel- 
ism: "we  will  place  a  king  in  her  midst,  [will  place]  the  son  of 
Tabeal";  or  (c)  to  call  particular  attention,  liy  the  very  un- 
usualness  of  construction,  to  the  personality  of  tlie  chosen  king; 
in  the  last  case,  the  effect  in  the  present  instance  is  that  of  sar- 
casm :  the  son  of  Tabeal  is,  indeed,  otherwise  unknown  to  history, 
and  the  name  as  here  vocalized  seems  to  mean  "  Son-of-good-f or- 
notiiing. "  instead  of  "Son  of  God-is-good,"  as  the  consonants 
would  normall.y  be  vocalized  to  indicate.  But  the  words  are  put 
in  till'  moutli  of  the  Syrian  and  Israelitish  kings,  and  the  sarcasm, 
as  well  as  tlie  emj^hasis,  would  be  misplaced;  in  any  case,  they 
are  probably  a  later  addition. 

8.  "For  the  head  of  Syria  is  Damascus,  and  the  head  of 
Damascus  is  Kezin."  This  crj-ptic  utterance  is  generally  in- 
terjireted  as  though  it  read:  "For  Damascus  is  the  head  of 
Syria,"  i.e.,.  of  Syria  alone,  and  will  not  be  head  of  Judah ;  but 
this  is  not  the  natural  implication  of  the  words.  The  sentence 
recalls  in  form  a  very  well-known  type  of  proverb  :  "Everytliing 
has  a  head,  and  the  head  of  .r  is  .;/";  e.g.,  in  Arabic,  "the  head 
(principal  part,  essence)  of  religion  is  the  fear  of  God";  "the 
head  of  kindness  is  promptness";  in  Hebrew  (Ps.  119.160),  "the 
head  (essence)  of  God's  word  is  truth."  Such  an  interpretation 
is  possible  here  also  if  the  interpretation  suggested  above  for 
verse  4,  with  its  emphasis  on  the  word  ' '  tails, ' '  be  accepted :  the 
"heads"  of  the  conspiracy  against  Judah  are  at  Damascus  and 
Samaria:  the  "  heads ""  of  the  capitals  are  the  kin.us :  si-il.,  when 

[398] 


l\inill,lism   in   Isaiah.  Vluiplirs   l-ln  WAW 

(jotl  hriiitrs  aliout  //i« />  il.'ffjit  (at  the  liands  of  Assyria?)  tlic 
conspirai-y  and  plot  fall  to  tlie  {jrouiul.  Soe  also  on  8.9-16,  with 
till'  cmpliasis  on  plans  and,  possibly,  f()iisi)iracy. 

"And  within  tliri'i-score  and  Hvi*  yeai-s  shall  Ephraini  be 
liiiikiii,  that  it  bi-  n(it  a  pcoph'. "  Plai-fd  so  as  tti  explain  the  ref- 
en-nee  to  Aram — not  to  Ejihraim — and  interruptinf:?  a  perfeet 
parallelism,  but  itself  without  a  parallel,  this  line  offers  perhaps 
the  most  eonvineiuf;  evitlenee  of  two  faets:  the  presenee  of  mar- 
ginal notes,  and  their  subse(pient  insertion  and  misplacement  by 
copyists. 

10.  I'arallelism  in  the  .seetion  10-17  is  not  elear;  nor,  indeed, 
is  there  here  the  ordinary  kind  of  oracle,  the  simple  word  of 
(iod;  but  it  is  prophecy  by  means  of  "signs"  and  symbolic 
names;  and  despite  the  fact  that  verse  10  begins  "and  God 
spoke  again  to  Ahaz, "  it  is  evident  that  it  is  the  Prophet  who 
is  speaking,  and  speaking  not  in  the  usual  entire  identification 
of  himself  with  the  voice  of  God.  In  diction,  also,  the  prevailing 
tone  is  that  of  prase  and  not  ecstatic  poetry ;  the  contrast  is 
vivid  between  this  seetion  and  verse  18,  for  instance;  and 
prol)ably,  then,  in  this  sort  of  omen  and  symbol  prophecy  no 
parallelism  was  intended;  though  the  habit  of  speaking  in  par- 
allelism may  have  unconsciously  led  to  such  a  phrase  as  is  found 
in  verse  11 :  "JIake  it  deep  as  Sheol,  or  make  it  high  as  Heaven"; 
so  also  verse  12:  "I  will  not  ask,  and  I  will  not  try  the  Lord," 
with  which  compare  8.16:  "Bind  the  testimony,  seal  the  law 
among  my  disciples";  in  both,  the  .second  line  contains  a  word 
or  phrase  ("the  Lord,"  "among  my  disciples")  which  belongs 
in  thought  also  in  tlie  first  lini'.     See  also  8.1-5. 

14.  "Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive";  literally  "behold,  the 
young  woman."  The  inadetpiaey  of  the  introductory  setting  in 
verse  3  becomes  unmistakable  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  this 
pas-sage.  Evidently  in  place  of  the  Prophet's  son  Shear- jashub, 
who  plays  no  part  in  this  scene,  there  shoidd  have  been  intro- 
duced in  anticipation  of  tliis  particular  prophecy  "the  young 
woman"  whose  presence  is  presupposed  in  verse  14.  As  the  text 
stands   the  conclusion    is   inevitable   that    the   "vounjr   woman" 


344  Parallel i.vu  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  7 

stood  ill  some  relationship  to  Isaiah;  possibly  she  was  the  wife 
of  the  Prophet's  son,  Shear-jashub ;  in  that  ease  there  would 
be  some  point  to  verse  3;  possibly  she  was  the  Prophet's  wife, 
called  "the  prophetess"  in  8.3;  this  would  mean  either  that  the 
two  pniplieeies  refer  to  one  and  the  same  event,  the  two  names 
being  variant  traditions  of  one  and  the  same;  or  that  they  refer 
to  two  events  distant  from  one  another  by  a  considerable  lapse  of 
time,  reference  being  then  to  the  birth  of  two  sous  of  the  Prophet. 

There  is  a  curious  lack  of  appropriateness  in  what  is  appar- 
eutlj'  intended  to  be  the  explanation  of  the  name  "Immanuel": 
"The  land  shall  be  deserted  whose  kings  thou  fearest";  it  con- 
tains no  direct  reference  to  that  name.  Contrast  with  this  8.3 : 
"Call  his  name  ' Swif t-is-booty,  Quick-is-spoil, '  because  the  riches 
of  Damascus  and  the  spoil  of  Samaria  shall  be  taken  away"";  or 
9.6,  where  at  least  tlie  word  shdlom,  "peace,"  appears  in  the 
explanation  of  the  nann'  contained  in  verse  5.  If  the  name 
"Immanuel"  is  indeed  correct  in  7.14,  it  is  at  least  necessary 
to  read  after  7.16  the  poem  on  Immanuel  now  standing  in  8.9flE., 
and  ending  "ki  'immdnu-'el,"  "for  God  is  with  us,"  which  is 
exactly  such  a  phrase  as  should  be  expected  somewhere  after 
verses  14—16 :  tlie  poem  is  out  of  i)lace  where  it  stands,  moreover ; 
and  on  the  otlna-  luind  7.17,  wliich  does  follow  here,  is  also  de- 
cidedly out  of  jilace;  notice,  too.  that  the  theme  of  the  poem 
in  8.9  is  the  fru.stration  of  a  "plan,"  '^^-(7,  the  same  root  that 
occurs  in  7.5  ("because  Aram  and  Ephraim  planned  against 
thee").  The  prophecy  8,llff.  also  seems  to  belong  in  this  chap- 
ter; i.e.,  either  both  chapters  refer  to  the  same  event,  or  there 
is  considerable  misplacement  of  verses. 

15.  "Butter  and  honey  shall  he  eat,  that  he  may  know  to 
refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the  good"'  is  nothing  but  a  conflation 
of  two  marginal  passages,  both  of  which  are  found  also  elsewhere 
in  the  text :  one  is  in  verse  16,  immediately  following ;  the  other 
in  verse  22  ("butter  and  honey  shall  every  one  eat").  Omitting 
this  intrusion,  with  the  resultant  (verse  14)  "She  will  call  his 
name  'Immanuel,'  (verse  16)  for  before  the  boy  knows,"  etc., 
compare  8.3,  "call  his  name  'Quick-is-Booty, "  (verse  4)  for  before 
the  boys  knows,"  etc. 


rarallilism   in  Isnmlt.  Cluiijl.rs   I- 10  'M'^ 

t'llAPTEK    7 

Iti.   StH-  aliovc.  Ill)  viTsi-  1."). 

17.  Thf  vi'i-sf  is  misplacid;  it  licloiijrs  with  S.4.  'Elh  whkh 
'Ashshfir,  "tin-  kiiifj  of  Assyria"  is  ajraiii  a  trliiss;  licri'  it  al)- 
surdly  stands  in  apposition  witii  tlie  word  "days." 

lt»-24.  A  st-rifs  of  paralK'listic  stroplifs,  |iroltal)ly  di'tadu'd, 
and  wliieli  if  tlioy  l)olon<j  in  tliis  scries  at  all,  should  ho  read 
with  chapters.  Notice  the  parallclistic  alliteration  in  verse  19: 
)utx"l('.  Wqlqf,  )ui'"{;u<;hti,  iMlflnlhit,  the  last  a  aTraf  Xeyofievoi' 
elioscii  for  its  further  niorphoiiu'ti-ii-al  eorrcspoiidciiff  with  the 
third. 

20.  lS--,bhn  »<(/i<7r.  literally  --liy  the  rejrions  heyond  th.' 
river,"  is  an  awkwardly  worded  jiarallel  to  "hy  a  razor  of  hire"; 
and  of  it  the  followinjr  phrase,  "hy  the  kinfr  of  Assyria,"  is  a 
redundant  variant ;  prohahly  the  latter  is  a  -rloss,  while  the 
former  should  he  read  b'-xcirbh  ni'khiir,  "with  a  foreign  knife"; 
cf.  Ezek.  0.1:  '"take  a  sliarp  knife  [xcribh],  take  thee  a  barher's 
razor  [ta'itr]  " \  for  xtrvbh  cf.  also  Josh.  5.2,  :{.  The  type  of  sus- 
pensive paralleli.sni  used  here  is  very  similar  to  that  found  in 
chapter  4  (<|.v.),  hut  is  peculiar  in  that  the  fourth  stichos.  in- 
stead of  liein;.'  an  incomplete  memhir  like  the  third,  is  a  complete 
proposition,  and  while  parallel  to  the  thinl  is  also  parallel  to 
the  first  three  sliehoi  as  a  whoh- ;  exactly  the  same  structure  is 
found  in  10.20.     Head: 

lUiiiiji-.m   hdhcr 
yyhaltnx    '"illn'iiiiii  h'^tha'ar  ha»s'khird 
li-ftA'x'"''''''''  n>khiir 

'tthhi'iri'mh  tCsa'ar  hii-raithlnyim 

u'flham    'ith  hiizzOqan  tispf  (or  .i/i*/i<M. 

21.  "Two  sheep":  .</i''^'  i;6ii  (the  latter  word  means  "tloek." 
as  bihi'ir  means  "herd")  ;  the  analogy  of  "a  heifer  of  the  herd," 
En|;lish  "a  yonn};  cow,"  sutrjrests  that  for  sh'ti'  there  he  read 
xr.  "a  sh.-ep  (or  jroat^  from  the  Hm-k"  (cf.  Ezek.  4r).ir),  Dent. 
14.4). 

22.  "For  butter  and  honey  shall  (he)  eat"  (Ai  x""'' 
iiilh'bhtish  yokhrl)  :  thi.s  clause  was  edited  into  verse  15  also;  it 
would  seem,  then,  that  it  nuist  have  stood  in  the  marpin  between 
two  columns   in   which    versrs   15  and   21   stood   api)roximatfly 


346  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

CH.VPTER    7 

opposite  each  other,  so  that  the  copyist,  doubtful  where  it  be- 
longed, inserted  it  in  both  places;  it  really  belongs  in  neither; 
it  disturbs  the  parallelism  as  well  as  obscures  the  thought;  its 
reference  to  "honey"  is  out  of  place  in  immediate  connection 
with  the  series  "cows,"  "goats,"  "milk"  and  "butter."  The 
theme  in  general  is  the  same  as  that  of  4.2;  there  the  extra- 
ordinary fertility  of  the  soil,  here  the  extraordinary  yield  of 
animal  products  in  the  Messianic  age,  is  the  immediate  subject. 
Compare  Deut.  32.14:  "butter  of  kine  and  milk  of  sheep," 
X"Ii~bh  coH,  in  a  picture  of  extraordinary  plenty;  there  "honey" 
and  "oil"  are  the  theme  of  a  separate  distich;  and  it  may  well 
be  that  the  reference  to  hone.y  is  merely  misplaced  in  verse  22, 
and  is  the  remainder  of  another  (marginal)  distich  tlie  rest  of 
which  is  lost.    Kestoration  : 

And  on  that  day : 
Each  one  sliall  nourish  a  heifer  from  the  herd  an.1  a   j;oat  from  the 

flock, 
And  because  of  the  richness  of  the  yiehl  of  milk,  all  left  in  the  land 

shall  eat  cream. 

The  insertion  of  this  irrelevant  distich  here  may  be  due  to  the 
mention  of  sheep  and  oxen  in  the  next  section. 

2.'i,  24.  The  inelegant  repetition  of  the  phrase  "thistles  and 
thorns,"  in  various  con.structions  and  positions,  is  sufiBcient  evi- 
dence of  the  disorder  of  the  passage;  evidently,  if  one  or  two 
repetitions  of  the  phrase  were  not  due  merely  to  carelessness,  the 
words  should  be  in  the  nature  of  a  refrain.     Transpose  the  sec- 
tion  beginning   ha-xiggim    ("with    arrows,"   in   verse    24)    and 
ending  with  tihyc  ("shall  be,"  in  same  verse)  to  the  end  of  the 
poi'm;  omit  /o'  fhdhho'  shthiimd  tjir'alh  as  a  doublet  in  part  of 
lldhln't"  shihiiiiid    (now   in  24;  the  section  stood   in   tlie   margin; 
lieiiee  tlie  doublet   as  well   as  tlie  misplacement)  ;  and  a  slight 
change  of  w'-hdjjd  to  yihye  in  ver.se  25  will  yield  the  following: 
W'--hdyd  haii-yom  ha-UH,  yihye 
lol  mdqdm   '"slier  yihye  sham   'eleph  gcphtn  b''-\hi>h  lustph 
lasli-shdmir  w'^lash-shayith  tihye; 

w'-l-hnl  hd-'dreg  w^-khol  he-hdrlm  '"slier  bavi-ma' dhCr  yc'ddhCruii 
shdnur  wa-shayith  yihytl ;  -    - 


402] 


■iill<li.tm   ill  Isiiiiili,  riKiptns   I-IO 


KK   7 


we-hAyH  I'-mithlax  shut  uU'-mirmas  si', 
bii-xiVc'"'   Abhaii-qisthfth  jtiibhu'  ahiimmii, 
ki  shdmfr  wa-ahayitli  yiliyi^. 

Notiue  tlio  unusual  style  of  this  section;  it  eontains  a  miniluT  of 
double  phrases,  not  distributed  in  parallelism,  both  in  the  re- 
frain, "thorns  and  thistles,"  and  also  in  eaeh  line:  "a  thousantl 
vines  at  a  thousand  shekels";  "all  the  laud  and  all  the  moun- 
tains"; "sondin;;  of  oxen  and  treading  of  sheep";  "with  arrows 
tMd  with  bows."  The  doubliu}?  reeurs  consistently  and  is  itself 
therefore  parallel istie. 

("llArTKK   S 

1-i.  The  "gnat  tabl.t."  the  witn.sses,  and  the  birth  of 
Isaiah's  son.  No  parallelism  need  be  sought  here  (see  on  6.1)  ; 
though  verse  1  contains  words  of  God.  they  are  not  an  oraele  for 
the  people,  but  merely  a  direction  for  the  Prophet.  Tin-  verses 
are,  moreover,  but  loosely  connected,  and  refer  probably  to  three 
separate  symbolic  acts:  (1)  the  writing  of  a  scroll  or  tablet  to 
be  publicly  displayed  so  that,  as  in  a  similar  case  Ilabakknk 
(2.2)  expresses  it,  "he  may  run  that  readeth  it";  (2)  the  writ- 
ing of  a  sealed  document,  for  which  the  taking  of  the  witnes.ses 
mentioned  in  verse  2  would  have  some  point;  (3)  the  birth  of 
the  Prophet's  son.  The  inference  as  to  the  scaled  document  is 
supported  by  verse  16,  in  which  the  terms  ('"udhn,  "attestation," 
or  "testimony,"  and  x'Hhi'im,  "seal  up,"  recall  the  .symbolic  legal 
act  performed  by  Jeremiah  (32.10,  11),  where  the  terms  "seal" 
and  "take  witnesses"  occur  again,  and  where  the  .sentence  "and 
I  tfK>k  till-  evidence  of  the  purcha.se,  both  that  which  was  sealed 
{h)\rilhi'im)  . . .  and  that  which  was  open  (lind-f/dlui)."  seems  to 
show,  as  suggi  stt'd  in  I.saiah,  two  separate  documents  (i/illuifoii, 
fCidh'i),  one  open,  the  other  sealed  and  to  be  opened  at  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  for  which  the  Prophet  waits  tS.17)  : 
u"^hiqi]ithi  I'^-Yahirr,  recalling  in  the  Ilabakkuk  pa.ssage  men- 
tioned aboie  haqqf  lo,  "though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it." 

6.  "And  rejoice  in  Hezin  and  Ramaliah's  son,"  it-m'^nna  'rth 
//'"i-i/i  ii-bhi  II  li'mahjiihu.  Syntax  and  style  show  that  this  |)hra.se 


403  I 


348  raralklism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  8 

can  not  be  original;  'eih  K''cui  R-bhcn  R'nuihjdhu,  like  'dh 
melekh  'Ashshfir  w'^-'eih  kol  k^bhodho,  "even  the  king  of  Assyria 
and  all  his  glory,"  are  appositional  glosses,  and  to  be  rejected; 
this  leaves  u-mesos,  literally  "and  rejoicing,"  to  be  coupled  with 
I'^-'at,  "softly,"  and  formal  parallelism  with  verse  7  is  thus 
established.  Masos  is  perhaps  governed  by  the  preposition  in 
I'-'at  ( ef.  I'-phetha' ,  "suddenly"  in  29.5 :  I'^-shdlom,  "peace- 
fully," Ueu.  44.17)  ;  or  it  is  an  adverbial  accusative  (Geseuius  I. 
118,  5c).  There  is  probably  a  reference  in  the  term  so  used  to 
an  underlying  root-meaning  other  than  "joy";  words  denoting 
"agile, ■■  "light"  are  derived  from  the  Arabic  shush  and  shfis; 
and  it  is  a  striking  coincidence  that  iniishrrtcisli  (var.  mushdwis) 
denotes  water  "not  to  be  seen,  or  hardly  to  be  seen,  by  reason 
of  its  remoteness  from  the  surface  of  the  ground"  -(Lane;  this 
signification,  however,  is  derived  by  Arabic  lexicographers  from 
the  root-meaning  "look  with  the  corner  of  the  eye") — an  ex- 
cellent description  of  the  waters  of  Sliiloh.  The  root  Difisas 
(with  saiitckh)  also  would  yield  an  ajipi-opriate  term,  "faintly," 
though  this  root,  literally  "to  luflt,""  is  normally  used  onh-  of  the 
heart;  if  i^sus  is  an  infinitive  from  this  root,  as  it  is  in  10.18, 
cf.  for  the  construction  Is.  GU.14:  hdl'^khil  sh''xd'%  "come  bend- 
ing. ' ' 

8.  ■•And  the  strctchiug  nut  of  his  wintis  shall  fill  the  bn-adth 
of  thy  land,  0  Immanuer":  the  absurdity  of  directing  this  re- 
mark to  the  unborn  or  infant  Immanuel  is  self-evident;  little 
better  is  the  interpretation  which  leaves  "thy"  indefinite,  and 
translates  '  itmndnu-'i'l  in  its  pi-csi'iif  jmsition  as  an  exclamation, 
"God  is  with  us":  witii  or  without  a  [ireeeding  k'l.  "for,"  re- 
placing file  sulfix  kil.  "thy."  if  belongs  with  what  follows,  verses 
9  and  10,  whieli  in  turn  belong  after  7.14  (q.v.). 

The  metaphor  in  k<  iidphdw,  "wings  of  tlie  flood,"  need  not  in 
itself  be  ([utstioned;  ef.  "wings"  of  the  wind,  "wings"  of  a 
garment  (i.e.,  skirts),  "wings"  of  the  land  or  earth  (its  regions 
or  extremities)  ;  there  is  by  implication  perhaps  a  reference  to 
the  "wings"  of  the  invading  army  which  is  "the  flood."  But 
the    line    is    over-long,    and    the    syntax    not    above    suspicion. 


[404 


I'arallilism  in  Isaiah,  Chuiitns   I- 10  :{49 

CUAITEK   8 

\V'-li<h)d  III' li'i'  l•l'l'^ablt  'ar<;o  aloiii-  would  iiuaii  "and  it  (tliu 
riniid  I  sluill  fill  tlif  broadtli  of  liis  land,"  and  would  leave 
■streteliin^  out  of  his  wiiiy^s.  "  timUoth  k'  naphdir,  as  the  remnant 
of  another  line,  or  perhaps  as  a  eoniph'te  line  in  itself;  for 
inutti'it)x  ean  bo  eitlier  a  verlial  noun  parallel  to  iu>ln  (thus:  "and 
[the  Hood  shall  be]  a  spreadiii};  out  to  its  [.ludah's)  ends."  i.e., 
"shall  spread  to  its  farthest  ends"),  or  a  jiassive  partieiple, 
predieate  to  k'ndphdw,  thoutrh  here  slaudiuf:  before  it  (thus: 
"its  [the  Hooil's]  win«rs  are  outstretelied"  I  ;  for  the  type  of 
resulting  strophe,  with  eireunistantial  elauses.  see  below,  verse 
•22  (where  the  reeonstrueted  te.xt  will  be  found)  ;  also  :!.!(! ;  and 
for  the  .syntaetie  variations  in  parallel  elau.ses.  ].:21. 

Probably  there  should  follow  here  verse  21   (((.v.). 

y.  liifu,  "as.soeiatc  youi-selves"  (but  also  "be  broken";  or 
"be  evil,"  or,  readinfr  nVCi,  "shout")  and  trd-xotti'i.  "and  ye 
shall  be  bri>ken  in  picees,"  in  stiehos  a  are  evidently  due  to  a 
n»ar<rinal  rcadin-r,  '" wd-xdtld :  rd'd,"  intended  for  the  lod-xdltu 
of  stiehos  b  or  e,  and  indieatin;;  that  in  one  of  those  plaees  r<?  I'l 
was  to  be  read  instead  of  it.  Hut  a  eopyist  mistook  the  reference 
and  referred  it  to  stiehos  a,  wiitin-r  nV  u  in  plaee  of  an  oriijinal 
shiiii'i'i,  "hear,"  and  ird-\t'ittd  in  plaee  of  an  ori^rinal  .i/"\'/<"r 
("nitofrether":  ef.  lO.S).  reading's  whieh  are  demanded  by  the 
parallelism.  Kor  the  seeond  hitli'dzzTi'i,  "jjird  .vou,"  read  poS^ 
sibly  the  synonym :  hilhx'KJO'ri'i ;  the  root  xdyliar,  "frird,"  is  used 
both  of  the  sword  and  of  saekeloth ;  notiee,  then,  the  Isaianie 
play  on  words,  as  well  as  the  sudden  turn  ajiain :  "arm  your- 
selves— hut  for  defeat,  not  for  vietory."     Riad  then: 

Shim' It    'iimmlm    .vnx''"M' 
M-'/i(i '"rinii    kul    merx"<l''    'iirei; 

hith'azc'rii  ird-x'-'Ji! 
hitxagg'rH  ir<l - ro' i3 

'MfiJ  'f^a  w'thiiphar 
^^abb'^ru  dhMhtir  ir'fu'  yarjiim 

Li  '  immiinU   'fl. 


I  *or,  ] 


350  raraUclisin  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  8 

11.  "For  tlie  Lord  siaoke  thus  to  me  witli  a  strong  hand  and 
instructed  me  that  I  should  not  walk  in  the  way  of  this  people, 
sajang. "  The  sentence  is  evidently  corrupt,  because:  (a)  "the 
Lord  spoke  thus, ' '  ko  'dinar  Yahwe  is  invariably  followed  imme- 
diately by  the  direct  discourse;  (b)  "to  speak  with  a  strong- 
hand"  is  linguistically  too  unusual  and  illogical  to  have  been 
used  by  Isaiah ;  even  Ezekiel  must  say :  ' '  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
was  strong  upon  me";  (c)  the  verb  "instruct"  {yasar;  lit. 
"discipline,"  "chasten,"  "admonish")  is  nowhere  else  iised  to 
characterize  the  prophetic  inspiration:  God  does  not  "admon- 
ish" his  prophets  J  (d)  the  following  direct  discourse  (verse  12) 
is  in  the  second  person  plural ;  it  is  evidently  addressed  to  some 
group  who  stand  apart  from  "tliis  people" — to  "the  House  of 
David"  perhaps — and  to  whom  probably  a  direct  reference  was 
made  in  the  original  of  the  corrupt  passage;  the  form  was: 
"thus  said  the  Lord  to  me,  'admonish  the  house  of  David  from 
going  in  the  way  of  this  people,  saying. '  "  Or  barely  possible : 
"The  Lord  spoke  thus  to  me,  with  a  strong  hand  detei-ring  me 
[ij''streni]  from  going  on  the  way  of  this  people."  As  the  sen- 
tence is  prose,  parallelism  is  not  present  to  pf)int  the  way  to 
restoration. 

12.  Qcsher  ("eoiLspiracy";  but  possibly  "alliance"),  if  cor- 
rect, refers  probably  to  the  attitude  of  that  party  in  Judali 
which  was  influenced  by  the  activity  of  the  Syrian  emissaries 
and  by  fear  of  the  threatened  invasion  if  it  refused  to  yield 
(see  above,  on  7.4).  Read  possibly  qddhosh,  "holy,"  however, 
in  view  of  the  contrasting  taqdtshu,  "make,"  "call  holy,"  or 
"sanctify.""  in  verse  13;  or  for  the  latter  some  denominative 
from  ij(shir:  "with  him  [God]  shall  ye  make  an  alliance."  If 
neitiirr.  the  riii'tiirieal  effect  is  still  present,  in  the  physical  re- 
semblancr  of  tiic  roots  qdshcr  and  qddhash,  and  is  further 
heigliteiird  by  nioqi'sh,  "snare,"  in  verse  14;  the  same  parono- 
masia and  the  same  thought  are  seen  in  Prov.  20.25:  nidqcsh 
'ddhdiii  irlla'  qodhcsh,  "a  snare  is  it  for  a  man  to  carelesslj^  say 
'lioliness.'  "'  If  qddhosh  or  qodhesh  be  substituted  in  the  present 
passage,  its  exact  signifieatinn  is  to  be  determined  by  reference 

[  ^06  ] 


I'lirullillsni   in   Isaiah.  ('/(,//>/.  ;-.v  1-10  :}')! 

C'UAI'TF.K    8 

to  such  an  iilioin  as  ■■saiu-til'yiii'r"  "r  ■'(.•onsccratiiis"  war  (Joel 
lit;  Mil-.  :j.5;  Jor.  G.4,  22.7,  51.27,  2S ;  in  Is.  i:!.:i  wqiiddilshai 
i>    "iny  coiisecruted  warrioi-s"). 

W<-lo'  lha'r'n:>'>.  "nor  be  afraid":  insert  as  oh.jict  w'-itli 
ina'"rii;i'>,  '"that  wliieli,  or  those  who,  eanse  tlieni  to  lie  afraid." 
paraUel  to  miird'ri,  "tlieir  fear." 

14.  ir'-/i«»i/<;  I'-itiiqdasli,  I'll'-'cblii  n  nnjluph,  ete. :  "and  he 
.-h;dl  lie  for  a  sanetnary  and  [En;;,  "but")  for  a  stone  of 
-Mnnbiinfj  and  for  a  roek  of  ofTenee":  the  subjeet  of  the  verb  is 
•  vidently  not  "He"  (Ciod),  but  "it"  ("the  saying  'eonspiriiey,' 

lioly'  "),  or  "tiiey"  (read  we-hfiyil  or  i<""/ir»i>ii(i)  ;  and  miqdash 
is  evidently  an  error  for  some  word  denoting;  "stumbling-block"; 
not  oidy  logie  demands  this,  but  also  parallelism;  the  threi' 
verbs  ".stundile,"  "fall,"  and  "be  broken"  point  to  three  eor- 
responding  nouns,  a.s  the  two  verbs  "be  snared"  and  "be  taken" 
are  parallel  to  the  two  nouns  "gin"  and  "snare."  ^  Lagarde's 
propo.sed  niiqqi'ish  (from  tiilqa.sh,  "strike,"  henee  "stund)ling- 
bloek";  ef.  BOB,  s.v.  miqdash)  is  then,  very  likely  eorreet ;  it 
is  logical,  restores  the  parallelism,  and  preserves  ]iaronomasia 
just  at  the  point  it  is  required;  cf.  Prov.  20.25  cited  above;  cf. 
also  Ex.  :{4.12:  Josh.  2:3.l:{  (eovinant  with  the  Canaanites  is  a 
"snare");  and  for  the  type  of  .sentence,  I.s.  ;}0.2,  3:  "(Woe 
tlnKse)  that  . . .  strengthen  themselves  in  the  strength  of  Pharaoh  ; 
for  the  strength  of  Pharaoh  shall  be  to  you  a  shame." 

"For  the  two  houses  of  I.srael":  "two,"  sh'ni",  is  probably 
an  error  due  to  a  conflation  of  bclh,  "house  of,"  and  6<"/if. 
"ehildreii  of,"  or  shokh'iu,  "inhabitants  of";  the  latter  would 
be  the  natural  parallel  to  y'lsh'^bhr  in  the  next  stiebos.  The 
Septiuigint  reads  "for  tl>e  houses  of." 

15.  RabbUii,  "many":  perhaps  dittograpliy  from  jueeeding 
letters;  ef;  28.13. 

16.  From  liere  thn>ugli  verse  20,  simple  jirose  may  have  been 
intended;  the  words  are  the  Prophet's  own  wonls.  not  Yahwiy's. 
In  verse  16,  "Bind  up  the  testimony,  seal  the  law,  among  my 
di.sciples,"  the  last  phrase  has  no  parallel  (cf.  7.12);  but  the 
Septuagint  at  the  end  of  verse  15  has  an  ndibd  phrase  (arfip(OTroi) 

[407  1 


351'  raranrnsiii   in  Isaiah.  Chapicrs  1-10 

Chapter  8 

h)  aa(})a\ei'a:  jxissiblv  Ifi-bhcfax  (C'f.  Gen.  34.25.  Lev.  26.5)  and 
originally  l<^-bhOt^'x(^' ■  "for  those  who  trust  in  me";  if  this 
phra.se  really  belongs  after  "bind  up  the  testimony,"  read  also 
l''-Unninldhtti;  "for  my  disciples." 

17.  Parallelism  in  this  verse  would  be  restored  l)y  transpos- 
ing from  the  end  of  18,  where  it  is  decidedly  inconsequential,  the 
phrase  "that  dwelleth  in  Mount  Zion, "  parallel  and  in  contrast 
to  "tliat  hideth  liis  face  from  the  house  of  Jacob."  Perhaps  the 
niisphircmcnt  is  farther  I'carhini;'.  and  verse  18  should  stand  be- 
fore vcrsi'  17;  at  jn'i'scnt  vei-sc  17  follows  verse  16  without  any 
iiitrodiictoi-y  word  to  mark  the  transition;  while  verse  18  has  the 
iutidcliictory  word  Iniiiir,  '•behold."  where  it  is  not  needed. 

]y,  2U.  "In  behalf  of  the  living  to  the  dead":  by  reading 
this  ])hrase  after  the  words  "that  peep  and  that  mutter,"  as 
parallelism  suggests,  fairly  good  order  is  restored  to  the  passage ; 
"shall  not_a  people  turn  to  its  god"  belongs  in  the  answer  to  be 
made  by  the  true  believers,  parallel  to  "to  the  oracle  and  the 
testimony";  it  is  probably  a  proverb,  or  based  on  one,  like  that 
quoteil  also  by  ^lieah  (4.5)  :  "every  people  walks  in  the  name 
of  its  god."  Tlie  two  interrogatives  halO'.  'iiii  hi'  are  parallels 
(ef.  10. Si,  witli  the  force  of  particles  of  "recpiiring  witli 
urgenc.v":  "surely  you  [tom^ru  for  yom^'ru;  or  'surely  they," 
i.e.,  mj^  disciples]  shall  say";  the  whole  passage  thus  becomes 
clear:  "Behold  I  and  my  children  are  prophetic  signs;  and  I 
shall  now  wait  for  the  fufilment  of  those  signs;  the  'testimony' 
is  sealed  among  my  disciples;  then  when  any  appeal  to  their 
oracles  to  win  yon  to  tlieir  views,  your  answer  sludl  be :  'a  people 
turns  unto  its  God' — "to  thi'  hiw  I  to  the  tcstinuiny  I "  "  Then'  is 
a  sarcastic  contrast  implied,  then:  they  say  "turn  to  the  dead 
in  behalf  of  the  living";  but  you  answer:  "turn  to  (the  living) 
God"   (ef.  Is.  37.17). 

"Becau.se  (there  is)  no  li.uht  in  thcni,"  litendly,  "to  which 
there  is  no  dawn,"  '('n  lu  shaxiir:  if  this  is  a  prose  passage,  not 
balanced,  ;uid  this  jihrase  belongs  here,  sh^xar  is  possibly  rather 
"enchantment,"  "magic":  they  shall  answer  with  the  simple 
phrase  "go  to  the  testimony,"  which  needs  no  accompaniment  of 


[408; 


I'lirallilisiii   ill   Isiiiiih.  CViup/.  c.v    l-IO  358 

•  llAITER    8 

iiu-aiitatimi,  as  iloi-s  tin-  siiiiiiiionin^r  <>!'  tlii"  (load.  Or  .s/Kjyf/r  is 
frotii  the  mot  '•tii  set'k"  (parallel  to  ildnish  iifro,  as  in  Ps. 
7S.:!4  .  and  the  clause  is  a  di'fi't-tivi'  icninaiit.  Hut  if  tiic  ivlVr- 
fiu-i'  to  till'  dawn  is  i-orrfi-t.  the  ])lirasi'  liclon-is  at  tlic  end  of 
vorsf  •_'!. 

'2\.  Tiiis  fits  admirably  on  to  verse  S  (i|.v.);  portion  of 
another  version  or  line  is  found  in  5.'M  (ij.v. )  ;  viewed  tojretlier, 
tlie  picture  presentetl  is  one  of  the  most  strikiufr  iu  Isaiali:  the 
Assyrian  rivers  rushiii<;  neek-deejj  and  roarin^r  like  the  oeean 
itself  against  the  struj,'<;ling,  Heeinjr  Judah,  who  looks  in  vain 
for  solid  earth  Und  for  light,  and  is  weakened  by  hunger  and 
anguish  until  he  eurses  his  god — and  is  engulfed:  for  death  ean 
lie  the  only  outeome  of  sueli  a  eui-sc-.  Hut  tin-  picture  as  it  stands 
is  ol)seurc(l. 

"When  they  [lit.  "he")  shall  be  hungry":  for  this  w<'ak  repe- 
tition of  "hunger,"  i/ir'abli,  read  a  |)sycliologically  more  fitting 
word,  such  as  i/ikli'dbh,  "be  in  anguish."  as  exiircssing  a  state 
that  would  lead  to  the  curse:  ef.  .Inb  •_'.."):  "yea,  all  that  a  man 
hath  will  hi-  give  for  his  life:  but  .  .  .  loweJi  his  bom-  and  Hesli, 
and  he  will  curse  thee  to  thy  face";  or  'J. 1:5,  3.1 :  "for  they  .saw 
that  his  grief  {k''i'bh,  "anguish";  cf.  Is.  17.11)  was  very  great. 
After  this  opened  Job  his  mouth,  and  cursed  his  day."  Or  read 
perhaps  ylz'itph  or  ijikh'iis:  "when  he  will  be  angry  and  vexed." 

"Curse  their  [lit.  his]  king  and  their  [his]  God"  (ef.  I  Kings 
Jl.lO;  Lev.  24.1;"))  ;  the  Hebrew  "by  his  king  and  god"  is  i>rob- 
ably  an  attempt  to  soften  the  original  wording:  notice  that  the 
Septuagiiit  for  the  same  purpase  reads  "the  ordinances  of  your 
fathers"  in  place  of  "their  God."  But  this  must  be  the  climax 
and  the  eiul  of  the  picture;  transfer  it  to  the  end  of  verse  22. 

"And  look  upward":  the  dotdilct  in  I'l.^O  (q.v.)  adds  "there 
is  darkness  (cf.  Is.  .'jD.D,  "we  hope  for  the  light,  and  lo.  then- 
is  darkne-ss")  ;  tlio  missing  line,  however,  is  j)erliaps  found  at 
the  end  of  verse  20  ("where  there  is  no  dawn"^  :  or.  as  a  rem- 
nant, in  "darkness"  in  the  next  verse  (further  evidence  rtf 
confusion  in  the  text). 

22.  "Dimiu'ss  of   anguish    \iii'"i'iph    (.Tc/'/]    and   driven    into 


354  Parallel  ism  in  haiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  8 

darkness  [ica-'"phela  m'-'nudddx]" :  The  second  phase,  literally 
"darkness  driven,"  though  syntactically  unusual,  is  still  prob- 
ably correct:  cf.  in  16.2  the  even  more  remarkable  qen  m<'$hulhx< 
"nest-driven"  for  "driven  from  the  nest."  But  read  for 
m''' uph  the  form  found  in  23,  iniTuph,  and  derive  from  yiV aph, 
"be  weary";  cf.  Dan.  9.21,  mil' aph  bVdph,  "wearied  with  weari- 
ness." "Wearied  with  anguish,"  "in  darkness  driven"  are 
parallels  to  "hardly  bestead  and  hungry"  in  verse  21,  and 
probably  belong  immediately  after.  The  text  to  this  point  might 
be  then : 

8.8       H"-x'''"P''  bihudha  slmtOph  W-'ahhoi- 
adh  gawmdr  yaggi"' 
u-kh^naphdw  muttoth 
■w<:-hdya  melo'  roxahh  'argo 
[-3.30     W-yinhom  ' aldw  l:''nah"math  ycim.] 

8.21a  W-' dbhar  hah  niqshe  w<--rd' I'bh 
8.22e  ma' aph  giiqd 

wa-'^phOla  m'^nudddx 
8.21c  ii-phdnd  lo-nw'ld  xv<^-hinne  x'sheJcM 
iv'-'et  'ereg  yabblt  w^^-hinne  gdrd 

8.21b  w''-hdyd  Tel  yikh'abh  W-hithqaggaph 
w'-qilWl  malko  ivelohdw. 

23.  (Eng.  9.1)  :  "Nevertheless  the  dimness  shall  not  be  such 
as  was  in  her  vexation,"  hi  Id  mu'dph  la-'^sher  mUqdq  Idh.  This 
(and  the  remainder  of  the  verse)  forms  a  gloss  to  9.2  (Eng.  3), 
which  in  the  consonantal  text  reads:  "Thou  hast  made  great  a 
nation,  not  hast  thou  increa.sed  joy,"  and  was  evidently  under- 
stood by  the  glossator:  "thou  hast  made  great  a  nation  whose 
joy  thou  hadst  not  increased";  to  it  then  are  added  two  glosses, 
or  a  gloss  in  two  parts;  one  uses  the  phraseology  of  the  lines 
immediately  preceding:  "Not  is  (now)  darkness  [or  weariness] 
to  her  [i.e.,  the  land]  that  was  [formerly]  oppressed";  the  other 
interprets  9.2  with  greater  geographical  precision:  "At  the  first 
he  dishonored  [Eng.  "lightly  afflicted,"  heqal]  the  land  of 
Zebulon  and  the  land  of  Naphtali,  and  afterward  he  honored 
[Eng.  did  more  grievously  afflict,  hilhhldh]  the  way  of  the 
sea.  beyond  Jordan.  Galilee  of  the  nations":  here  Id'  hiijhdaltd, 

[410] 


I'aralli  Usui   in   Isninh,  Chuplirs   l-IO 


litorully  ••tlimi  ditlsl  not  iiuTcasc,"  is  (jlossid  by  lu'fial,  while 
hirbilhd:  ••tliou  liast  miiltiplioil,"  is  -ilossed  by  hihhbUlh.  Tlio 
tri-ofrrapliii'iil  scttiiifj  is  diit',  pi'i-liups,  to  a  "rloss  on  tlic  words 
htujW'H- '"'.  "''»'  I'ntioK.  not."  iiamoly,  ;/i/,  or  (j'lld,  "rej()ii'iii<?" ; 
till*  words  fill,  /')'.  ami  hatj-ijoi/  iH'injr  niisroail  (j'lll  hiitj-iji'mhii. 


(llAl'TKIt  9 

•_'.•  'Or  lu'tiihith  '••li'hi  III.  •■upon  tli.'ni  liatli  tlif  ii'.'lit  siiincd": 
siiu'f  'or  is  till'  siijiji'i't  of  the  in-i'vious  stiflios,  read  '<"/r  lifir  as 
the  vcrl)  and  ii'iijluth,  "  radiaiu-c,"  as  tli<'  subject ;  cf.  Amos  5.20; 
Is.  (;().:{ :  this  not  only  prevents  a  weak  repetition,  but  restores 
til.'  natural  order  of  predicate  and  subjeet. 

:;.   Lo'  hiijIuMtri,  "not  inerea.sed  the  joy":  see  S.'J:J  (9.1). 

4.  Tlu"  unusual  phrases  'ul  subb'^ld,  "yoke  of  his  burden," 
and  iiiiiUi'  shikhiiio,  "statf  of  his  shoulder,"  are  possibly  due  to 
eoiifusion;  'ol  and  siibhcl  are  natural  parallels;  read,  then,  '<// 
shikhiiio,  "yoke  of  his  shoulder"  (.see  note  on  vei-se  G),  and 
sobhil  ,;atnii'ird,  "inirden  of  his  iieek"  (ef.  lO.'JT  :  "his  burden 
from  thy  shoulder,  his  yoke  from  thy  luek")  :  and  then  maltt' 
hoiii-iiuikkihii,  "statT  of  his  smiter "  (ef.  l.s.  14.29,  shrbhct 
niiikki'lu'i),  parallel  to  shtblut  hnn-niiiihi's  bo,  "the  rod  of  his 
(>|)I>ies.s()r. "  «)n  the  type  of  stro|)lie  in  this  vei-se  and  the  next, 
with  parallelism  introdiieed  before  the  syiitaetie  strueture  is 
eomplete  (in  the  Hebrew  the  predieate  "thou  ha.st  broken" 
stands  after  the  three  subjects,  not  before),  see  4.:5.  Add  par- 
allel to  "the  day  of  Midiaii,"  k'-i/otx  <>r  b'-tlhrrckh  mn^riiii'im, 
"after  the  manner  of  Kuypt."  as  in  10.2G. 

,").  For  b'ru'ash,  "with  confused  noi.se,"  read  bi-rmi'm,  bi- 
r'^phos,  or  b''-miriiu'is,  "with  tramplinir"  (ef.  Is.  16.4,  "the 
trampler  has  e«  nsed  from  thi-  earth"),  or  some  other  synonym 
of  yhiid.i,  "violence."  as  a  fitting  parallel  to  "bloodshed";  the 
Septuajrint  ni)pareiitly  read  b'^-miniui  "with  deceit."     For  thi- 


*  Kijfiires  rpfor  to  vorws  nn  numbered  in  the  Kn);li!<)i  Bit)Ic;  verses  in 
the  Hebrew  text  are  numbereil  one  leas;  e.g.,  Englmh  2  =  Hebrew  1.  In 
the  tmnslntion  on  pp.  2.10,  2.11,  2.1(5,  however,  the  Hebrew  nuniliorinir  is 
given. 

[411] 


356  Farallrlisin   In  haiah,  Chapiers  1-10 

Chapter  9 

probable  correetiou  m<'gh(')'<lhl,  "stained"  (cf.  Is.  63.3),  instead 
of  m'gholfild,  "rolled,"  ef.  the  very  curious  Septuagint  render intr 
of  one  of  the  phrases  in  14.19 :  ifxaTiov  iv  aifiari  Tre^vpfiivov: 
while  in  the  present  passage  it  read  the  root  (jdinal,  "re(]uite," 
for  gdhil.  "roll."  For  W^-haifihfi.  "but  tliis  shall  be,""  read 
simply  h(l!j<'thd.  "has  been,"  a  past  as  in  the  preecding-  and 
following  strophes;  a  misunderstanding  of  the  type  of  strophe 
has  led  to  the  insertion  of  W,  "and"  or  "but."  The  reference 
to  the  end  of  bloodshrd  may  be  to  domestic  as  well  a.s  foreign 
oppression. 

This  birth-ode  might  easily  have  been  composed  originally 
with  reference  to  the  birth  of  Solomon,  or  have  been  n  jioetic 
reconstruction  of  such  a  passage  as  I  Cliron.  22.9.  whose  phrase- 
ology it  recalls:  "But  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me  saying: 
Thou  hast  shed  blood  abundantly  and  hast  made  great  wars; 
thou  shalt  not  build  an  house  unto  my  name,  because  thou  hast 
shed  much  blood  upon  the  earth  in  my  sight.  Behold,  a  son 
shall  be  born  to  thee,  who  shall  be  a  man  of  rest ; . . .  and  I  will 
give  peace  and  quietness  unto  Israel  in  his  days;  he  .shall  build 
an  house  for  my  name ;  he  shall  be  my  sou  and  I  will  be  his 
father;  and  I  will  establish  the  throne  of  his  kingdom  over  Israel 
for  ever. ' ' 

G.  "Unto  us  a  son  is  givi'ii":  this  stichos,  following  "for 
unto  us  a  child  liiiJcdh,  "boy"]  is  given,"  serves  no  other  pur- 
pose than  that  of  parallelism. 

Wnt-t^'hl  hitm-misrd  ' al  shikhiiid,  "and  the  government  has 
been  [Eng.  shall  be]  upon  his  shoulder."  The  absence  of  par- 
allelism, the  repetition  of  the  strange  word  }unn-)uis7-d,  found 
only  here  and  in  verse  7,  and  the  interruption  of  the  natural 
order  of  ideas,  i.e.,  the  announcement  of  the  birth  and  then 
the  name,  are  sufficient  indications  of  corruption.  Probably  the 
whole  sentence  is  made  uj)  of  a  gloss  on  tunu-misrd  in  verse  7, 
and  one  on  verse  4  (q.v.),  '61  shikhmd,  "the  yoke  of  his  shoul- 
der," the  whole  being  combined  on  the  basis  of  22.22:  "and  I 
shall  ]ilace  the  key  of  the  ho\;se  of  David  upon  his  shoidder. " 
It   is  absolutely  beyond  the  limits  of  probability  thai   the  a-?ra^ 


[412 


Isaiiih.  Chiiiihrs    l-lo 


\f/6n(foi>  h'l  III -III  isn't  is  iiuTi'ly  a  synoiiyui  lor  tlic  word  "nili'," 
for  wliich  till"  laii^uat;!'  i)<)sst'sscs  st'Vi'ral  instantly  iveofrnizabK' 
words.  If  till'  olansi'  is  ki-pt,  some  otluT  nii'aniii'r  must  in-  sought 
for  hiiiii-iiiisn'i,  ilfn(>tiii<r  a  i-oncri'le  syinl)ol  of  ofHrt',  as  in  l2l2.'J2; 
and  a  parallel  voi-sf  (cf.  ajjain  22.21,  "and  the  rule  will  1  jjiive 
in  his  luuul").  inakinjr  tin-  stran-rc  word  elcar.  must  1«'  assiinud 
to  have  lioon  lost;  but  if  the  passage  is  simple  jirose,  hmn- 
iiii  m.ihilla  should  be  substituted  for  h'tm-iiii.irfi. 

'El  (/ihbor,  "the  mifrhty  fjod"  :  in  the  e.\planatii>n  of  the  name 
in  verse  7  this  appellation  is  left  uiinotieed;  this  is  suffieient 
evidenee  that  the  startlinjrly  uniipie  applieation  of  the  name 
■■frod"  to  the  ehild  was  not  intended:  the  Septuajrint  omits  the 
word  '»■/  entirely.  Parallelism  with  the  term  "wonder  of  a 
eounsellor"  re(|uires  that  'fl  yibln'ir  be  interpreted  in  aeeordanee 
with  'I'lt'  ijibborim  in  Ezek.  32.21 ;  i.e.,  "nii«rhty  one  of  a  hero."  or 
even  "strenfith  of  a  hero";  'rl  is  almost  a  synonym  of  x"!l'l  '" 
the  latter  case;  aiul  as  pclr'  .i/o'r^-  stands  for  iiiaphlV  ' I'l^d  (cf. 
28.29)  so  '(■/  gihhor  would  reeall  ijibbor  x",'/''-  Moreover,  had  the 
term  "<rod"  been  intended,  the  order  of  terms  woidd  eertainly 
have  been  "eounsellor,  father,  prinee,  <xod."  and  not  "eoun- 
sellor, jrod.  fathiT,  prinee. 

''t/ii  '(idh,  "the  everlasting  father":  read  either  '"bin  dhi'il, 
"father  of  knowled<;e."  or  'iibn  ijinlhi"' .  knowing  father";  cf. 
the  attributes  of  the  kinji  in  11.2:  wisdom,  understanding,  coun- 
sel, strenffth,  kiiowledjre ;  ef.  also  the  proper  name  Abidnh.  On 
the  heapiiifr  up  of  parallelistie  terms,  ef.  the  note  to  1.21. 

L'-iiiarht'  ham-inisra,  "for  the  increase  of  "rovernment " :  see 
above,  on  6;  read  jirobably  niishdr.  "e(piity";  cf.  Is.  11.4:  "he 
shall  judire  with  rifrhteousncss,  and  reprove  with  eipiit.v"; 
coupled  with  "pence,"  as  here,  in  JIal.  2.6. 

lyin'nth.  etc.  ("the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  will  perform 
this""!  :  a  monostieh,  stantlinj.'  outside  the  orm-lf  prop.r;  I'f. 
1.20.  10.2:!. 

t>.  AVith  this  verse  bepins  a  .series  of  sections  each  ending'  with 
the  refrain  "For  all  this  his  anper  i.s  not  turned  away,  and  hi.s 
hand  is  outstretch.d  still"   (verse.s  12.  IT.  21,  and  chapter  10. 

[  41.1  1 


358  Paralldism  in  Isaiah ,  Chapfers  1-10 

Chapter  9 

verse  4).  The  siime  refrain  occurs  also  in  5.25,  at  tlie  end  of 
a  number  of  stichoi  whose  subject  matter,  moreover,  would  form 
an  admirable  introduction  to  the  series  of  passages  in  chapter  9 ; 
there  is  then  some  justification  for  using  the  term  "stanza"  for 
each  of  these  sections,  and  for  assuming  a  dislocation  of  the 
one  in  chapter  5;  indeed,  quite  possibly  some  of  the  stanzas  in 
chapter  9  also  are  transposed;  the  words  "but  [A.  V.  for]  the 
people  turned  [A.  Y.  turneth]  not  unto  him  that  smiteth  them" 
in  9.13  would  follow  most  naturally  after  stanza  1  (5.25)  ;  and 
the  transposition  of  the  stanza  9.13-17  would  at  the  same  time 
leave  in  juxtaposition  the  two  stanza.s  which  have  most  in  com- 
mon. 9.S-12  and  18-21 ;  for  immediately  before  the  refrain  in 
9.12  occurs  what  might  be  considered  a  three  line  strophe,  with 
characteristic  variation  in  the  third  stichos : 

The  Syrians  before, 

And  the  PhDistiBes  behiud; 

And  they  devoured  [A.  V.  will  devour]  Israel  witli  opeu.niouth; 

and  similarly  in  21 : 

Maiiassfli,   Ephraini ; 

And  Ephraim,  Manasseli; 

And  they  together  against  Jmlah. 

These  two  stichoi,  notice,  are  also  the  oiily  two  wliicli  con- 
tain proper  names,  and  which  can  clearly  be  read  as  tristichs; 
although  9.17  contains  the  three  parallels  "their  young  men," 
the  "fatherless,"  and  "widows."  which  might  possibly  iiulicate 
an  original  tristich  in  this  stanza  also: 

The  Lord  shall  not  take  joy  in  their  young  men, 

Xor  shall  he  have  mercy  on  the  fatherless, 

Nor  shall  he  pity  their  Tvidows. 

This  tristich  would  again  stand  before  the  refrain  if  the  natural 
transposition  of  the  following  distich,  "for  every  one  is  an 
hypocrite,"  etc.,  to  an  earlier  position  in  its  stanza  (see  below) 
be  accepted.  But  the  other  stanzas  show  no  trace  of  this  tristich 
variation ;  possibly  the  tristichs,  then,  are  to  be  read  as  distichs ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  variation  may  be  due  to  a  difference  in 
time  of  the  composition  or  in  the  authorship  of  the  respective 
stanzas. 


[414; 


I'tirulldisiii   ill   Isiiiali,  Chuiilirs   l-li)  i!.')!) 

I'llM'TEK   t» 

Sdiiu'  i)t°  the  staii/as  in  cliaiitiT  !l  I'Diitiiiii  in  adilitioii  to  tlio 
rt'fraiii  tivi-  slroplics,  Dtlici-s  six,  all  of  wliii-li,  fxi-fptiiij;  those 
iiifiitioiii'd  abovf,  arc  distichs  and,  witli  one  or  two  defects,  in 
normal  parallelism.  In  eaeli  stan/a  there  are  eontaiiied  refer- 
eiiees  to  the  jieoplo's  sin  and  to  (iod's  punishment  therefor, 
though  in  on'-  instance  particidarly  the  two  themes  are  not  kept 
distinct.    Details  arc  as  follows: 

Stanza  1.   (5.24e-'25)  :  3  stroiiiies,  of  wiiieh  1  in  the  "sin" 
section,   introduced   by  Af,  "btc^iusi ,"  and   2    iu   the 
punishment   section,    introduced   by   '<//   kfn,  "there- 
fore. 
Stanza  2.   (9.13-17):  G  strophes,  of  which  3,  at  present 
not  grouped  together,  refer  to  sin    (1,  4,  6),  tiie  last 
introduced  by  k'l ;  and  3  to  punishment   (2.  3,  5),  of 
which  the  last  is  introduced  by  'al  kni. 
Stanza  3.   (9.8-12)  :  5  strophes,  of  which  the  second  ("and 
the  people  all  of  them  shall  know,"  etc.)  is  uncertain 
in  its  parallelism,  but  by  a  slight  omission,  becomes  a 
normal  distich;  of  the  five,  3  refer  to  sin,  2  to  punish- 
ment (the  last  possibly  a  tristich  ;  see  above). 
Stanza    4.   (9.1H-21):    6    strophes,    the    division    between 
sin  and  punishment  being  doubtful.     The  first  strophe 
refers  to  sin,  and  is  introduced  by  k'l;  the  second  con- 
tinues the  simile  of  the  first ;  the  third,  though  likewi.se 
containing  a  picture  of  the  fire  presented  by  the  first 
two,  begins  with  a  prepositional  phrase  ("by  the  word 
of  the  Lord"),  which  would  normallj-  introduce  a  new 
thought;  this  might,  then,  be  considered  the  beginning 
of  the  "punishment"  section,   but   in   that  case  this 
section,  as  the  stanza  stamls,  contains  4  strophes,  leav- 
ing only  2  for  the  sin  section  (see  below). 
Stanza  ">.     (10.1-4)  :  6  strophes.  3  referring  to  sin.  3  to 
punishment. 
There  is  some  doubt  whether  the  stanzas  are  to  be  interpreted 
as  narrative,  or  as  prophetic;  the  last  (10.1-4)  certainly  refers 
to  the  future;  the  remainder  seem  to  refer  to  till-  i)ast :  for  while 

[  41-'  1 


360  Panilhlism   In  Isiiiah.  Chaptirs  1-10 

Chaftek  9 

it  is  true  that  some  of  the  verbs  are  imioerfeets.  and  would 
normally,  if  in  independent  clauses,  refer  to  the  future,  most  of 
them  can  be  explained  as  circumstantial  imperfects,  deriving 
their  time  limitation  from  the  main  verbs.  Possibly  the  refer- 
ences to  the  attacks  of  the  Philistines  and  Arameans  (read 
"Edomites"?  Cf.  11.14,  also  II  Chnju.  i^8.17,  IS)  upon  Israel,  and 
of  Manasseh  upon  Ephraim  and  of  both  upon  Judah  are  to 
be  considered  as  general  and  typical  rather  than  definite  and 
particular:  Philistines  and  Ai'ameans  typifying  foreign  foes; 
Manasseh,  Ephraim,  and  Judah  interti'ibal  combatants;  other- 
wise the  conflict  between  Manasseh  and  Ephraim  may  be  the 
division  between  the  sous  of  Joseph  as  reflected  in  Gen.  17.14, 
while  that  between  Manasseh  and  Ephraim  together  as  against 
Judah  is  the  division  between  North  and  South  mentioned  spe- 
cifically in  7.17  ("days  such  as  have  not  come  since  Ephraim 
separated  from  Judah");  and  with  this  should  be  compared 
the  hope  expressed  for  the  future  in  11.13,  14:  "the  envy  of 
Ephraim  shall  depart  and  the  adversaries  of  Judah  be  cut  off; 
Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Judah  and  Judah  shall  not  vex 
Eiihraim ;  but  they  shall  fly  n]ion  the  shoulder  of  the  Philistines 
on  the  West,  and  shall  spoil  them  of  the  East,  together  they  shall 
lay  their  hand  upon  Edom  (notice,  not  Aram!)  and  Moab,"  etc. 

In  the  following  suggestions  it  is  assumed  that  there  was 
originally  a  series  of  stanzas  with  some  measure  of  uniformity: 

(5.24e-25.)  See  5.24d ;  probably  two  distichs  have  fallen  out 
before  the  one  beginning  "for  they  have  rejected.'"  Possibly 
the  poem  began  with  some  phrase  such  as  Iwi  'am  surer  u-)ufir(  : 
"Ah!  nation  rebellious  and  stubborn,"  etc.  (cf.  1.4  for  the 
sequence  of  ideas)  ;  this  would  account  for  the  inclusion  in 
chapter  5,  a  series  of  stanzas  lieginning  witli  ••hoi":  see  also 
stanza  5  (10.1),  below. 

9.8.  "The  Lord  sent  a  word  into  Jacol),  and  it  hatli  lighted 
[Heb.  shall  light]  upon  Israel"  is  a  very  illogical  introduction 
to  what  follows.  The  Septuagint  reads  for  "word,"  ddhhdr, 
Odvarov,  "death."  which  might  be  simph-  dehher,  "pest";  but 
read  ]n-obal)ly  sh'hh,r,  "a  crash,"  "destruction";  cf.,  e.g.,  Jer. 

[416] 


I'dnillilism   in   IsumIu  Cluipti  is   1-10  'Ml 

C'llM'TEK   i) 

4.G:  ••for  1  will  l.riiifT  ovil  fn.m  lln'  North,  ati.l  a  ■jrrcut  dostnu-- 
lii)ii,"  shibhir  tjadhi'il;  also  Amos  G.6 :  slu  hlur  Yi'isi'ph:  for  the 
word  ill  Isaiah,  i-f.  30.13;  for  tiie  eoiistriK-tioii,  10.16,  "the  Lord 
shall  sfiul  [i/'shalUix]  leamu'ss."  Parallel  to  it  ivad  for  inlplinl. 
If  phol,  "a  falliiijr."  or  niapijuld.  •"riiin.'"  or  m  fir.  ■■shattfrint:'" ; 
cf.  30.30. 

9.  ir''-t//r(//i'"  H,  "and  shall  know."  also,  is  illo'iical  in  view 
of  what  follows;  iiiort'oviT  li'itn'ir.  ■sayiii-:'"  (  Kii-r,  '"that  say"), 
prosuppost's  an  antecedent  verb  iiiiplyinj,'  nsc  of  the  voice;  read 
u-ai/ydlo'u  (cf.  Job  6.3;  Prov.  20.2.'>).  '•they  talked  wildly,"  or 
w(iii-iit'ilii;u  (cf.  Is.  28.14),  "scotTed,"  or  trtiti-i/ir^'ijhi'i,  "mocked." 
"Epiiraim  and  the  dweller  in  Samaria,"  is  probably  merely  a 
jrlass  on  "the  people  all  of  them."  preeedinjr;  it  is  superHuoiis, 
since  tin-  previous  verse  iiulieatis  clearly  who  "the  people"  are; 
and  "people"  is  n.sed  throufjhout  the  prophecy  without  any 
similar  modifier.  Its  omission  restores  a  normal  distich  here. 
However,  if  on  the  basis  of  I's.  17.10,  a  phrase  like  iniifdhabbtr 
phr  be  introduced  before  b>-(jha'"wii,  the  followiii'i  results: 

Ami  the  pi-oplo  all  of  tlioiii  nuu-keil, 

Epiiraim  and  tlir  dwellors  in  8amnrin ; 

Th'?ir  mouths  spoki'  prouilly, 

In  stout iio!>:<  of  heart  thev  .saitl. 

Milt  this,  while  it  would  make  a  six  strophe  stanza,  would  place 
four  of  the  strophes  iii.stead  of  three  in  the  "sin"  section. 

11.  Wa-y'sayytbh:  Here  the  sin  section  be-jiiis  without  the 
conjunction  '«/  knt,  "therefore"  (thou};h  the  Entrlisli  so  trans- 
lates) :  possibly  a  di.sticli  be};iiiniii<;  thus,  and  containiii*;:  the 
siiperHuoiis  line  from  above,  as  well  as  the  name  "Rezin"  found 
at  present  niisplnced  in  verse  10.  really  has  fallen  out ;  this  would 
ajrain  make  six  instead  of  five  strophes.  Notice  that  the  word 
irii-y'sayyibh,  literally  "made  hi>:li  (the  adversaries,"  etc.). 
ofTers  just  the  appropriate  hint  of  poetic  ju.stice  to  be  expected; 
Israel  sought  to  set  hijrh  wliat  (Jod  threw  down;  therefore  (Sod 
set  on  high  those  who  will  humble  Israel.  Y'sakhsikh  ("urge 
on":  Enp.  "join  together")  is  either  a  circumstantial  imperfect 
or  should  be  read  as  n  p.rf..t  m7./iv,  A/i,  as  parallelism  with  "he 
exalted"  demands. 

[  ii:  ] 


362  Puralldisin  in  Isninh.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  9 

13.  See  above  on  the  transposition  of  this  whole  stanza;  more- 
over, the  strophes  within  this  stanza  should  also  probably  be 
transposed  (notice  that  the  Massoretic  text  makes  a  break  be- 
tween 13  and  14),  with  the  following  order:  verses  13,  16,  ITcd 
{ki  kulld  xof'^ph,  "for  all  of  them,  etc."),  14,  17ef ;  probably 
also  'al  ken,  "therefore,"  from  verse  17  to  the  beginning  of 
verse  14,  since  in  its  present  place  it  forces  the  imperfects  in 
verse  17  to  be  understood  as  futures  ("shall  have  no  joy,"  etc.), 
while  without  'al  ken  they  may  be  circumstantials  (cf.  the  im- 
perfects in  verses  19  and  20,  depending  upon  the  perfect  in 
verse  14 ) .  The  n  suHaiil  logical  order  of  ideas  is  then  :  The  people 
turned  not  to  (loil,  Init  their  leaders  were  false  and  the  people 
were  misled — all  nf  tlicm  wi-re  iniquitous;  therefore  God  cut  off 
leaders  and  folhiwcrs,  jiityiiig  neither  young  nor  old,  orphan 
nor  widow. 

13.  "The  aiieiciit  and  honorable,"  etc.:  this  was  po.ssiblj"  a 
gloss  on  the  pn-ei'ding,  tiiough  it  is  also  possible  that  in  the  form 
"the  ancient  and  honoui'able,  the  prophet  and  teacher  of  lies" 
is  represents  in  wiiole  <ir  ]iart  an  original  couplet;  the  decision 
will  (l('iii'iid  upon  the  eonehision  as  to  the  number  of  strophes 
originally  in  the  typical  stanza.  If  a  gloss,  written  in  tin'  mar- 
gin, it  might  account  for  the  displacement  of  the  verse  it  glosses. 

16.  "For  the  leaders  of  this  people":  a  comparison  with 
verses  9,  13,  19,  where  "the  people,"  not  "this  people,"  is 
used,  gives  evidence  again  of  the  editorial  hand ;  but  read 
(if  the  transposition  suggested  above  is  acceptable)  simply 
,ir'a.^hsh'nnr.  --tlirir  leaders." 

17.  On  "tlieretnrc"  see  the  note  on  verse  14.  8up])ly  pos- 
sibly a  separate  verb  /'/'  //iT^''"  for  the  object  "his  orphans," 
making  this  strophe  a  tristieh   (see  above,  8). 

18.  Possibly  this  stanza  contains  vei'ses  which,  while  Isaianic, 
were  not  originally  a  part  of  this  prophecj',  but  were  edited  into 
it  to  replace  a  portion  that  was  missing.  The  use  of  the  abstract 
noun  rish'd,  "wickedness,"  is  itself  strange  in  Isaiah;  if  cor- 
rect, the  sequel  shows  that  it  must  here  be  a  synonym  of  qin'd, 
"envy,"  "hatred."  But  while  one  expects  in  the  next  lines  de- 
tails concerning  the  nature  of  the  sin,  as  a  matter  of  fact  there 

[418] 


I'liralli  lisiti   III   Isiiiiih,  Vluipti 


is  III)  point  ill  the  (IcsiTiption  of  sin  '■(•onsiimiii>^  tliistlcs  and 
thorns."  This  imtiiphor  is  intflliijibli'  and  usual  in  rct'iTi-niM' 
to  tiod's  wrath;  cf.  10.16.  17,  of  which  this  passa^re  is  almost  a 
duplicatf;  and  it  is  sin  it.solf  wliicli  is  i-onsunicd  hy  the  fin'. 
h'ish'il,  thill,  po.s.sihly  cither  is  a  inisreadiiifj,  or  is  editorial,  due 
to  the  necessity  of  pivinpr  the  pa.s.sa<re  a  seiiibhince  of  ajipropriatc- 
ne.s.s,  and  was  chaiifred  from  some  orifjinal  word  modifying' 
"fire"  (so  its  position  indicates),  c.<;.,  h('i'"n'i,  "a  coiisuiniii'r 
fire";  while  the  real  suhject  was  'cbhrd,  in  verse  1S>;  this  sup- 
ports the  probability  that  vci-se  19  bcloiifrs  before  verse  IS,  as  is 
indicated  also  by  the  fact  that  vei-se  19  l)y  its  woi-dinj^  seems  to 
be  the  bepiniiiiifr  of  a  new  thoufrht. 

Wail-ilitli'abb'khi'i,  "nin\  they  mouiitrd  up."  not  fimiid  else- 
where in  Hebrew  or  other  Semitic  lanfruages,  is  possibly  due  to 
the  precediiifj  sibh'khf;  the  Septnajrint  read  the  two  roots 
'I'ikhal  and  sftbhabh.  (if'fith  ("lifting  up";  usually  "ma.jesty," 
"pride")  is  also  very  suspicious;  the  Septuagint  read  ij'hhrroth, 
"hills";  read  perhajjs  "the  valleys  {[/''di/oth]  are  surrounded," 
or  "roll  up"  (iiitlisobli''bhu),  or  "are  clouded"  initli'abb'qri, 
lit.  "ilust.d";  cf.  Xa.  l.ii),  "(with^  smoke";  cf.  1  Kings  18.45: 
"and  the  heavens  are  blackened  (with)  clouds." 

19.  Nc'tain,  "darkened":  this  aira^  Xeyofievov,  doubly  siis- 
|)icious  because  masculine  whereas  feminine  is  expected,  is  per- 
haps to  be  compared  with  '"iiinii  in  11.15;  it  is  the  meaning 
attaching  to  the  latter  root  in  Arabic  that  would  justify  in  the 
prc.sent  pa.ssage  an  unusual  word  for  "burned,"  ".scorched"; 
since  f/hiiiiii  in  Arabic  denotes  "internal  heat,"  "rage,"  the 
thought  might  be  here:  "by  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  the  world  is 
enkindled  into  blazing  hatred"  (cf.  7.4:  "that  .smoke  by  the 
wrath  of  Resin")  ;  tills  would  be  the  qin'ath  'Ephraii'im,  "jeal- 
ous anger  |Eng.  envy]  of  Ephraim."  of  \\.\'-\.  Read,  perhaps, 
then,  for  m'tam,  iiil'oiiuith  (i.e.,  iiii'oiiiu)  'iirii;.  Ma'klidh  th 
'I'sh,  "fuel  of  the  fire,"  occurring  again  in  verse  5,  is  in  good  par- 
allelism as  far  as  the  distich  is  conccnied,  but  difficult  in  view  of 
what  follows.  If  the  stanza  as  a  whole  is  to  be  regarded  as 
original,  read  perhaps  A'"-V.«/i  'nkhihlh,  "aa  a  consuming  fire"; 
or  k''-tnn'"khi'>hlh  'dph.  "as  the  fui-l  of  wrath,"  "consumed  with 
[419] 


364  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  9 

wrath,"  whioli  would  permit  the  transition  to  tlie  idea  of  mutual 

destruction. 

Ish  'el  '«x'"'  1<~>  ijaxiiioh'i:  possilily  the  distieh,  verses  19c'  and 
20c,  "no  man  shall  spare  his  brother,  they  shall  eat  every  man 
the  flesh  of  his  neighbor"  (read  so  with  BUB;  the  Massoretie 
text  has  "of  his  own  arm,"  Ish  h<^sar  z'^ro' 6  yokhelu)  is  a  gloss 
or  variant,  placed  here  to  effect  some  semblance  of  transition 
from  the  picture  of  fire  in  verse  19  to  that  of  the  ravenous 
beast,  bird,  or  perhaps  sword,  in  verse  20.  That  the  couplet 
was  written  in  the  margin  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  two 
stichoi  are  at  present  unnaturally  separated;  the  repetition  of 
the  verb  "ate"  (201)  and  c)  also  is  suspicious;  notice  too  the 
plural  verbs  {i/axmolu  and  ijokhelu)  in  the  Hebrew;  if  the  coup- 
let is  original,  the  imperfects  are  circumstantial,  and  the  singular 
should  be  read;  the  metaphor  "eating  flesh"  is  used  to  denote 
bitter  enmity  in  Ps,  27.2;  .lob  II). 22;  hence  it  is  a  close  parallel 
to  "spare  not." 

20.  Way-iiiiih:,-,r.  --and  lie  sliall  siiateh";  lleb.  ••and  he  cut" 
(but  read  po.ssibly  iniij-jfii/h-dl  i  ;  if  the  tigure  intended  is  not  that 
of  the  beast  or  binl  of  prey  (cf.  11.14:  "and  they  shall  fly  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  Phili-stines"),  but  merely  that  of  extreme 
human  anger,  it  may  have  a  literal  basis;  notice,  e.g.,  II  Sam. 
12.31 :  "and  brought  forth  the  people  and  put  them  under  axes" 
(lit.  cutting  instruments,  niaghzernth).  For  2()c,  see  preceding 
note. 

21.  "Together  they  against  Judali":  the  jiarallel  passage 
9.12,  as  well  as  the  change  of  construction  (.accusative  to  prcjio- 
sition)  suggests  the  loss  of  a  vei^b;  the  Septuagint  TroXtopKtjaovai 
represents  x'lmi'i'  "encamped  against,"  for  hnintta,  •■tiiey,"  but 
it  might  also  Ik  (;ara,  "besieged,"  witli  which  cf.  again  11. l)!; 
"Judali  shall  not  vex   [lldeor]   Epiiraim." 

Possibly  all  that  is  in  place  in  this  stanza,  besides  the  refrain, 
is  the  following ; 

And  they  tore  ou  the  right,  still   huiisry. 
And  they  ate  ou  the  left,  uns.ited, 

Manasseh,  Ephraim, 

And  Ephraim,  Manasseh, 
And  together  [they  pounced]   upon  Judah. 

[420] 


rtiriillilisiii   in   Istiiiih,  Chiipti  is    l-IO 


(.'llAITKU    U) 

1.  Tla-  prt'i'fdiiig:  stanzas  wt-iv  diivettd  ajjaiiist  "tlic  pt-oplc"; 
tliis  Olio  against  a  particular  class  tliat  oppressi-s  the  people,  who 
iienee  are  ealled  eoinmiseratini^ly  in  verse  '2  "my  people"  (ef. 
tiie  tone  of  3.15)  ;  this  i)assage  luus  a  eloser  aflinity  witli  ehapter 
.')  than  witii  ehapter  5).  Note  in  verse  2  tlie  pity  expressed  for 
widows  and  orphans,  who  in  9.1G  [17 J  are  iwt  to  he  pitied.  It 
is  perhaps  tiie  very  words  "orphans  and  widows"  whieh  led  to 
the  juxtaposition  of  these  stanzas;  while  sh'ltllam,  "their  booty" 
and  iiahli''>::fi,  "tiiat  they  may  rob,"  tofjether  with  hoi,  "woo!" 
"ah!"  aeeount  for  tin-  ju.\taposition  of  the  following  section, 
lt).r)tr.,  beginning  "Ah  Assyria"  and  containing  in  verse  (J  shdlt'il 
and  Ul-hho:  bnz.  The  refrain  "still  is  his  hand  outstretched" 
is  not  a  natural  conclusion  for  the  .section  10.1— i. 

3.  ',1/  »(M  tilni'isu  h-'i:rd,  'iiiu'i  thn'iiz'hhfi  k'hhi'uUv khaii ,  "to 
whom  (Ilob.  upon  whom]  will  ye  tleo  for  help,  where  [Ileb. 
whither)  will  ye  leave  your  glory":  transpose  the  two  intcr- 
rogatives;  ef.  the  construction  in  IJO.G,  where  "whither  ye  shall 
Hee  for  help"  occurs  even  after  a  noun  antecedent;  while  'fizabh 
takes  properly  the  preposition  'til  in  the  meaning  "entrust  to"; 
cf.  I'.s.  10.14.  K' hhi'„lh'kli<  in  is  "thi-  glory  of  your  wealth." 
i.e..  the  spoil  and  booty  mentioned  in  verse  2;  there  is  al.so  a 
reference  to  the  root-mi'aning  "heavy" — hence  the  next  couplet: 

4.  miti  khiirn'  l(i\ath  'iis.tir,  W-tlui^dth  h"ru<ihiin  i/lppi'ih'i, 
"without  me  [Ileb.  without]  they  shall  bow  down  [Ileb.  he 
bowed  down]  under  the  j)risoners,  and  they  shall  fall  under  the 
slain":  read  /'-&/ii7/i  kh'ro"' ,  "so  as  not  to  bow."  Tiixotit  is  here 
"among,"  or  must  be  corn-cted  to  b'thokli  (ef.  Kzek.  32.20), 
la\alh  being  then  n  slip  of  the  copyist  who  had  expected  the 
phrnso  "bow  down  under  the  weight  f>f  the  burden"  (.see  vei-se 
3),  or  "under  the  feet  of  the  enemy"  (cf.  II  Sam.  22.40).  The 
Septiiagint  reads  correctly  "ye  shall  fall"  instead  of  "they  shall 
fall,"  another  careless  copyist's  mistake.  The  imperfect,  as  fre- 
(|uently,  continues  the  infinitive  construction. 

5.  r-i»i«//r  hii'  bli'i/ihlhi'iin  zti'ini:  literally  "and  a  statT  he  in 
their  hand  my  anger";   for  this  cojiyist's  awkward  jundile  of 

1421) 


366  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  10 

words  parallelism  suggests  simiolj-  u-matie  za' ml,  "aud  staff  of 
mj-  anger";  other  simple  emendations  yield:  "a  staff  is  he 
in  the  day"  {h'^-yum  for  h<'-yddhdm)  or,  "against  the  people" 
{!)''-' am;  but  see  the  next  verse),  "of  my  wrath,"  or  "a  staff  is 
he  in  the  hand  of  my  wrath";  less  likely  is  rt-iiuittrhil  ydrhii 
h<'-za'mi,  "who  raises  his  staff  by  my  anger,"  although  in  verse 
24  {u-mattehu  yissd'  'dlekhd)  it  is  Assyria  that  raises  the  staff. 

6.  "I  will  send  him  against  a  hypocritical  nation":  the  im- 
perfect here  is  rather:  "I  was  sending  him,""  "I  would  send 
him,"  i.e.,  "I  thought  to  send  him." 

"To  tread  him  down  like  tlie  mire  of  the  streets":  if  this  line 
is  in  place  it  makes  with  6cd  a  tristich  of  the  type  described  in 
1.2;  the  Septuagint  "to  trample  cities  and  to  make  them  into 
dust"  yields  another  normal  distich.  But  the  figure  of  speech 
here  indicates  destruction,  and  weakens  the  apparent  intention 
of  the  author,  aud  the  contrast  with  what  follows ;  it  is  just  de- 
struction that  the  Assj'riau  was  7iot  sent  to  effect ;  he  was  merely 
to  take  spoil  (there  is  an  evident  reference  here  to  8.3,  4).  The 
line  wa.s  probably  misplaced  and  edited  here;  it  may  belong  at 
the  end  of  verse  7,  or  better  still,  at  tlie  end  of  verse  13   (q.v.). 

8.  "For  lie  saith,  are  not  my  princes  altogether  kings?" 
This  is  vague,  and  is  not  a  logical  introduction  to  what  follows; 
"altogether"  in  the  sense  of  "all"  is  not  correct  in  this  phrase; 
and  the  Septuagint  shows  a  disordered  text.  Read  for  sdrai, 
' '  my  princes, ' '  either  'asslr, ' '  captives, ' '  'assirai,  ' '  my  captives, ' ' 
or  'uss^ru,  "captured,"  "bound,"  i.e.,  with  repetition  of  the 
'dleph  from  h"l(~i',  and  confusion  of  the  sibilants;  cf.  Is.  22.3: 
'uss<'rfi  yax'^dw :  "all  thy  rulers  are  fled  together,  they  are  bound 
by  the  archers:  all  that  are  found  in  thee  are  bound  together." 

10.  "As  my  hand  hath  found  tlie  kingdoms  of  the  idols  [Heb. 
idol]  and  whose  graven  images  (did  excel  them)  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  Samaria"  (text  simply:  "and  their  images  from  Jerusa- 
lem and  Samaria").  The  text  is  evidently  in  disorder;  read  for 
hd-'<^lU,  "the  idol,"  hd-elle,  "these"  (cf.  36.20)  ;  insert  before 
"from  Jerusalem"  a  predicate:  "so  it  shall  not  fall  short  of." 
In'  tiqvar   (cf.  Is.  50.2:  "is  my  hand  shortened  that   it  cannot 

[422] 


I'iiralhlisiii  in  Isitiuh.  Cluiplirs  1-JO  307 

CllAITER    10 

r.-(li'<-in";  also  ."17.27.  and  partimilarly  .')!).!)  ;  or  lo'  Ihirpf,  "it 
shall  not  be  too  iVeble  for"  (II  Sam.  4.1).  And  for  "from 
Samaria, "  whieli  has  oomi-  from  the  next  verse,  read  "and  from 
her  images"  (uniim-imiiis'khothrlnl ;  ef.  IU).;22,  48.5)  or  umi<;- 
i■<l^Hl(■/lll. 

11.  ••Shall  I  not":  h"-l<y  is  as  usual  emphatie,  "surely  I 
shall,"  and  here  elimaetie:  "as  1  did  to  all  these  kinjidoms,  1 
shall  not  be  unable  to  do  to  .lerusalem — yea,  as  I  was  able  to  do 
even  to  Samaria,  so  also  shall  I  do  to  Jerusalem." 

12.  Insert  a  phra.se  parallel  to  "his  whole  work,"  e.j;.,  po'lo 
as  in  .').12,  so  as  to  throw  the  two  exaet  .synonyms  "Mount  Zion" 
and  ••Jerusalem"  into  parallelism;  ef.  the  form  of  the  next 
verse.  ■■Fruit  [p'rl]  of  the  stout  heart"  mitrlit  mean  thoughts, 
as  ■■fruit  of  the  lips"  is  words:  but  p'rl  is  here  parallel  to 
tiph'inth,  " glory";  the  Septuagint  omits,  so  that  the  word  was 
possibly  indistinct:  i;'bhi  would  be  a  fitting  parallel  (see  13.19)  ; 
if  the  text  is  correet  the  parallelism  is  mere  root-paronomasia, 
p<i  'ar  and  para. 

13.  '•And  by  my  wisdom  for  1  am  prudent."  hi  wbhihu'ithi: 
the  Si[)t»iagint.  ■■in  tin-  wisdom  of  my  undcrstaiuling"  shows  a 
text  without  Ai;  read  perhaps  ■'in  my  wisdom  and  understand- 
ing"; or  mon-  probably  Ai  represents  part  of  a  variant  reading 
of  the  r(K)t  n'^bhuiii'ilhl:  jjarallelism  with  'dsUhi,  "1  have  done 
it,"  suggests  h"khiitothl,  "I  have  aeeomplished";  this  same  par- 
allelism oeeui-s  in  Jer.  33.2. 

"And  I  have  [read  inl  for  lleb.  w  ]  put  down  like  a  valiant 
man  [kabb'n  or  ka'nbbir]  the  inhabitants":  the  Septuagint  "1 
will  shake  tin-  inhabited  eitiis"  shows  perhaps  that  the  text 
was  not  eerlain.  Read  for  kabbir,  k'bhddh:  '■the  glory  of  their 
inhabitants,"  i.e.,  thi-  nobles;  on  the  phra.se  ■■bring  down  the 
strength"  or  "the  glory,"  and  "eome  down  from  glory,"  ef. 
Ainns  3.11  (parallel  to  "spoil  the  palaces";  cf.  the  present  eon- 
text;  Jer.  48.18:  rdh'i  mik-kabhiidh  ijosh'bhi  bha<;-i;nmf').  For 
yosh'^bhiin  read  ff'ish'^bhfhim ;  cf.  37.27.  This  whole  prophecy 
is  in  distiehs;  perhaps,  then,  the  Se|)tuagint  reading  is  not  a 
variant  of  this  vii-sc,  but   represi-nts  another  stiehos;  its  refer- 

(  «•■«  ] 


368  I'aniUilism   in  Isaiah.  Chapters  l^Ki 

Chapter  10 

I'liee  to  "cities"  is  peculiar,  for  it  reads  "cities"  also  in  the 
superfluous  stichos  now  found  in  verse  6  ("to  tn-ad  down  like 
the  mire  of  the  streets"  i,  which,  in  the  form  W(i-'"siiiifin  itiinnds, 
etc.,  "and  I  trod  them  down  lik.'  the  mire  of  the  streets"  would 
he  iu  place  here;  for  the  mmjuimicc  of  ideas  cf.  Is.  63.6:  "I  will 
tread  down  the  people  in  mine  anger.  .  . .  and  1  will  hring  down 
their  strength  to  the  earth." 

14.  "Eggs  that  are  left,"  hi'i^hn  '^'zuhhOth:  read  probably  for 
'"■zuhhoth,  '''zCa,  "the  strength  of  the  world,"  or  'izziizf,  "the 
strong,"  parallel  to  ^('l  ("strength,"  i.e.,  "riches  of  the 
nations":  cf.  this  pai-aUelism  in  43.17).  or  some  other  collective, 
plural,  or  abstract  olijeet  of  "gather." 

1').  ••Qv  as  if  tlie  staff  should  lift  up  (itself  as  if  it  were)  no 
wood":  the  A.  V.  has  apparently  felt  that  the  language  used 
here  has  unusual  implications;  the  Septuagint  also  has  a  dif- 
ficulty either  in  reading  or  in  understanding  the  text.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  normal  implication  of  the  statement  "a  staff 
cannot  raise  up  not-wood"  would  be  that  a  staff  is  an  instru- 
ment for  raising  up  that  which  is  wood.  But  the  intended  impli- 
cation in  this  passage  is  determined  not  so  much  by  the  words 
themselves  as  by  the  iiaraUelism.  "Him  that  hewetli,"  "him 
that  shaketh,"  "him  that  liffeth"  are  all  metaphors  here  for 
"God";  hence  "not-wood"  here  has  the  implied  meaning  "God" 
(cf.  Is.  31.8,  where  "not -man"  is  again  "God"),  who  is  speci- 
fically described  as  "not-woml."  in  contrast  not  only  to  a  staff, 
but  also,  by  implication,  to  the  Assyrian's  idols;  in  Is.  37.19,  a 
pa.ssage  which  undoubtedly  is  based  on  the  present  one,  this 
thought  is  ex])licitly  (U'vclojied,  and  the  contrast  made  directly 
between  the  Assyrian  gods  and  Yahwe;  "for  they  were  not- 
gods,  but  the  work  of  men's  hands,  wood  and  stones."  The 
present  passage  offers  another  example  of  Isaiah's  fondness  for 
leading  the  mind  by  parallelism  to  expect  a  certain  phrase  and 
then  substituting  the  unexpected,  which  the  implications  of  par- 
allelism then  make  clear;  this  is  especially  effective  in  a  climax. 

16.  The  section  16-23  is  misplaced ;  reference  is  never  made 
to  forests  in  Assyria,  even  in  a  metaphor;  this  passage  refers  to 


[424; 


I'aralhlisni   in   Isaiah.  ('hai>l<rs    l-lti  :{(iy 

ClIVl-TKK    10 

till'  ilistnu'tioii  of  Israel  or  .liulali  U''"-  ;<T.:24  i  ;  it  l)fliiii!,'s  prob- 
al>ly  witli  i-luiptvi-s  7  and  8;  wrtaiiily  tho  emphasis  on  sh'Tir  in 
vci-sis  19,  20,  "Jl.  •_'•_'  would  •rive  point  to  tin-  nn'Mtion  of  Shcaf- 
jashul)  in  7.:i.  The  rest  of  this  chapliT.  too,  is  in  .•onsiderahlf 
disorder. 

•■The  re  fore  shall  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  send  among 
his  fat  ones  leanness,  and  under  his  <rlory  he  shall  kindle  a  liurn- 
inj;  like  the  luirnin'r  of  a  fire'":  for  "fat  ones'"  read  "fatness," 
iiiishmanni'i,  the  proper  parallel  to  kiibhud,  "glory,"  literally, 
"heaviness";  ef.  17.41),  "the  fatne.ss  of  his  flesh  shall  wax  lean." 
The  latter  part  of  the  vei-se,  ijiqadh  y'qt'xlh  klqodli  'I'sh.  "shall 
lie  kindled  a  kindling  like  the  kindling  of  fire"  contains  a  simile 
without  any  real  term  of  e<)mi)arison;  the  phrase  is  probably 
misplaeed;  the  Septuagint  has  the  i)hra.se  "burning  flame"  .still 
a  third  time:  after  vei-se  l.S  (<|.v.),  and  wa.s  evidently  in  doubt 
as  to  where  the  variant  really  belonged  (sec  below).  Parallelism 
demands  after  taxath  k'bhmlhn  ("under,"  but  also  "instead 
of."  "his  glory")  the  word  qdlnn,  "shame";  literally,  "instead 
of  liis  heaviness,  lightness";  for  qiilun  opposed  to  kabhmJh  see 
•J'J.IS;  also  niqli  and  nikhhddh  in  IJ.') ;  and  ef.  17.4:  "on  that 
day  the  glory  of  Jaeob  shall  be  made  thin"  {yiddal,  but  read 
perhaps  i/fqal).  Transpose  here  also  18bc  (see  ad  he.)  : 
Liikhin  yuliatlax  ha- 'I'idhon  h''-misbmaiiiiii  r<i::<'4n 

ir<^-tliaxath  I'bluidhii  qi'ilon 

tc^huyii  kim<'s6s  noses 

minnefesh  W-'adh  biixar  y'khalli^  (or  iiiklih''). 

17,  IS.  1m  the  phra.se  kiqiidh  'csh  (see  above)  there  is  per- 
haps a  play  on  q'dhi'mhd  iu  this  verse,  which  probably  the  gloss 
indicated  should  be  read: 

Whaya    V>r   Yurd'i'l  I'' lehiibhii 
itq'dhitsho  yi'ijadh  kiqiidh   'rsh: 

"And  the  Light  of  Israel  shall  lie  for  a  flame,  and  his  Holy  One 
burn  HS  when  a  fire  is  kindled."  Further  confusion  in  the  text 
is  seen  in  the  collocation  of  u-bhu'<'rii  w -fiklvU'i .  insti-ad  of  their 
distribution  in  parallel  position.s.  Probably,  too,  for  k'hhodh 
ya'ro,  "glory  «»f  lii.s  fon'st,"  read  ii;  ija'ro,  "the  trees  of  his 
forest":  k^bhodh  is  due  to  dittography  from  verse  16;  tlie  cor- 

l  <25  ] 


370  Panillrlisiii  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  10 

rect  reading  'cc  ya'ro  stands  now  in  verse  19,  into  which  it  was 

written  from  the  margin;  read: 

d-hha'^rd  eg  ya'ro  W-kharmillo 

w<^ -ahWla  sliitlw  u-shnmlro  b^-yom   'exfidh: 

"and  it  shall  burn  the  trees  of  his  forests  and  garden-land,  and 
devour  his  thorns  and  thistles  in  a  single  day." 

Min-ncfesh  w>^-'adh  hdsdr  y'^khalle,  literally,  "from  soul  unto 
bodj'  it  shall  consume,"  certainly  belongs  in  the  figure  of  the 
consumptive  man,  and  not  in  that  of  a  burning  forest  (see  above, 
to  verse  16)  ;  for  the  phrase  cf.  Job  33.21;  Prov.  5.11;  Ps.  73.26; 
read  for  y^khaUe,  yikhle:  "he  shall  waste  away";  note  that  as 
the  text  stands  the  subject  of  y^hhAjllc,  "consume,"  is  "it," 
i.e.,  the  "flame"  of  verse  17,  wliich  is  a  feminine  noun,  while 
yfkJiaUc  is  masculine. 

Wf^-huyd  ki-m^sos  noses  ("and  they  shall  be  as  when  a 
standard  bearer  fainteth";  Septuagint,  "and  he  that  flees  shall 
be  as  one  fleeing  from  burning  flame ' ' ;  for  the  last  phrase,  see 
on  verse  16,  above)  :  for  nv^sos  in  the  literal  sense  "wasting  away 
of  the  body,"  cf.  trmes  in  Ps.  58.9  ("as  a  snail  which  melteth")  ; 
names  in  I  Sam.  15.9  (if  the  text  is  correct,  "consumptive"  for 
the  A.  V.  "refuse");  masnidsd  in  the  Talmud  (the  "rotting 
away"  of  any  organ  of  the  body).  If  noses  is  correct,  it  must 
mean  something  more  forcible  than  merely  "a  sick  man"  (see 
BDB),  which  would  be  xole  or  nax"le;  pei-haps  "a  dying  man'" 
( in  Arabic  naslsa  is  ' '  the  last  breath  of  life  " ) . 

19.  For  the  transposition  of  'eg  ya'ro,  "trees  of  his  forest," 
see  verse  18 ;  this  leaves  here  u-sh^'dr  mispdr  yihyu;  which,  with 
repetition  of  the  wi  from  mispdr  (i.e.,  u-sh<!'drdm)  is  exactly  the 
reading  of  the  Septuagint:  "and  the  remainder  of  them  shall 
be  a  number"  (i.e.,  "numerable").  There  follows  here  natu- 
rally verse  22  (q.v.). 

20.  The  peculiar  form  of  suspensive  parallelism  used  hei-e  is 
very  similar  to  that  found  in  7.18  (q.v.).  But  he-'<'meth  at  the 
end  (if  thf  fourth  line  is  shown  both  by  parallelism  and  linguistic 
Tisage  to  be  superfluous.  Ilishshd'en,  'lean  upon,"  "recline 
upon,"   is   used   invariably  with   a   consciousness  of   its   literal 

[  42fi  ] 


ranilhlism   in   ls(ii,ih.  Cluipt.rs   l-IO 


nn-aiiinsj:,  and  ilocs  not  take  an  alistract  t-ompli'nii'iit,  as  may  its 
iabstrac't)  jiarallcl  bi'itux,  ■trust";  tlu'  natural  cndinsj;  for  this 
stichos  would  lie  simply  Ytihit'i  q'dhosho  (cf.  10.16),  i-ontrastiuK 
with  iiirikki'liil.  (."uriously,  the  puralli'l  to  ''imth,  <;<clh(iqd  (vL 
In.  4S.1),  is  found  similarly  misphu'cd  at  thi-  end  of  verse  22 
t<l.v. )  ;  possibly  both  are  marjrinal,  and  lielonjr  to  a  missin<!:  verse 
— further  evideuee  of  confusion  in  this  seetion.  \'erse  20,  it 
should  he  notieed,  refers  to  a  time  after  the  destruction  by 
Assyria  shall  have  been  effected;  the  emphasis  in  its  reference 
to  the  remnant  is  upon  Israel's  salvation  (i.e.,  "still  a  rem- 
nant") ;  and  since  Israel's  "Holy  One"  stands  in  contrast  with 
Israel's  "smiter."  the  emphasis  is  upon  CJod  as  Israel's  savior. 
21.  This  verse  seems  to  have  several  mutually  contradictory 
implications.  Its  brevity  would  seem  to  stamp  it  as  a  single 
stichos;  in  thought  it  is  a  parallel  to  the  last  stichos  of  verse  20; 
the  absence  of  connecting  conjiuiction  would  show  it  to  be  the 
beginning  of  a  new  thought,  to  be  connected  with  what  follows 
(verse  22),  whose  implication,  however,  it  contradicts,  for  there 
the  emphasis  is  upon  the  prophecy  of  a  remnant  a«  a  threat  of 
punishment  ("only  a  remnant"),  as  in  verse  19.  But  in  addition 
to  this  confusion  in  empluusis  a  greater  suspicion  attaches  to 
vei-se  21  in  its  present  form  because  of  the  i)hrase  'fl  ijibbor, 
"Mighty  (lod."  El  is  used  as  a  jiroper  name  of  Uod  in  the 
earlier  |>arts  of  Isaiah  only  in  the  psalm-chapter  12  (in  5.16  it 
has  the  article;  in  14.1:{  it  means  simply  "heaven";  in  <s.S  and 
10  it  is  due  to  the  personal  name  luunanu-el)  ;  and  ijibbor,  while 
it  occtirs  elsewhere  of  God,  is  used  always  as  a  descriptive  adjec- 
tive in  a  series  of  others  or  in  parallelism,  never  as  here  making 
a  compound  proper  name  of  God;  whereas  it  dm-s  occur  in  the 
uear-by  i)assage  O.ii  lus  the  symliolic  name  of  the  (Messianic?) 
prince.  Notice  Um  that  slf'ur  ydshubh  is  the  symbolic  name  of 
one  of  Isaiah's  sons,  that  it  occurs  again  in  the  next  verse,  and 
that  the  remaining  phra.se  in  this  sentence,  sh'^'ilr  yi'i'"qohh  is 
omitted  by  the  Septuagint  (possibly  it  was  a  variant  of  p'li'lnth 
hith  Ya'i'qobh  in  verse  20).  Tin-  conclusion  drawn  fmm  the 
style  and  parallelism  is  that  this  verse  is  nuule  up  of  marginal 


[427 


872  I'dndlrlisiii   ill  Isaiah,  ChapUrs  1-10 

Chapter  10 

annotations;  it  is  barely  possible  that  in  some  other  form  it  was 
part  of  the  siippos-ed  missing  distich  to  which  '''m(  ih  and  r'dhdqd 
also  belong  (see  verse  20). 

22.  For  the  transposition  of  22,  23,  see  on  verse  19 ;  for  shear 
jjashtlhli  see  6.13,  and  above,  verse  16.  That  "righteousness" 
at  the  end  of  22  is  misplaecd  is  shown  b.v  vci-si-  23  ;  "for  the  Lord 
God  of  Hosts  shall  make  a  .■oiisumpl  ioii  \kdld\  even  determined 
[ic''-ucx< nlvd].  in  the  midst  (jf  all  the  earth,"  which  is  evidently 
merely  a  fuller  prose  i-e]ietitioii  of  thi'  preceding  "the  consump- 
tion [l-illdijdu]  decreed  (x'''''''c]  shall  overflow"  but  which  leaves 
the  disturbing  term  "with  righteousness"  unexplained.  At  the 
same  time,  some  word  has  evidently  fallen  out  parallel  to 
killdiidii  and  as  the  subject  of  shotcph  (which  is  really  a  par- 
allel to  xdrnc)  ;  fortunately  verse  26,  below,  and  28.15-18  supply 
it;  read  probably: 

nhnt  t:hi;uph. 
Shilf  IS  literally  "a  whijr";  but  in  28.15,  where  the  figurative 
use  of  the  term  is  elaboi'ated  it  would  seem  to  mean  "scourging 
tlood,"  siiiee  shdtrph.  used   witli    it,   is  fre(|ueiit   in   Isaiah   in   the 

figure    of    the    ovei'fiowing    tl 1    of    Cod's    punishment:    ■dhhur. 

usid  with  shdlaph  in  S.S.  is  used  of  shnt  in  28.15;  and  in  28.19 
"treading."  iiiininls.  and  "taking,""  niqqox.  show  further  that 
shot  has  not  its  original  meaning  "whip."  It  is  hardly  prob- 
able that  mere  paronomasia  led  to  Isaiah "s  choice  of  the  word; 
possibly  there  is  a  reference  to  some  other  meaning  of  the  root 
(curiously  Muhammad  also  uses  the  figure  "pour  out  [sahh]  a 
saitf  of  punishment";  savf  is  also  a  pool  of  water  left  by  a  tor- 
rent). At  any  rate,  in  28,18  the  rtders  are  rebuked  for  scorn- 
ing the  Prophet's  admonition,  and  the  words  shot  shoteph  are 
put  mockingly  in  their  mouths  api)arently  as  a  quotation  of  his 
own  previously  s|)okeu  words:  as  though  they  said  "your  shot 
shillfph  wlieu  it  comes  will  not  touch  us";  whereupon  the 
Prophet  (2S.17)  ri'peats  the  jilirase  in  answer,  elaborates  it  in 
detail,  and  then  at  the  end  of  that  prophecy  (28.22)  repeats  also 
the  identical  words  he  had  used  at  the  end  of  the  previous 
prophecy  (10,23;  with  this  concluding  prose  line,  cf.  9,6). 

[  4-38  ] 


l',ir,ill,lism   ill   Isiiiiih.  Cluipt.rx   l-ID  :i7:J 

ClIAl'TKU     10 

•24.  Th.'  fullnwiii.^'  v.Ts.'s  i|l.n.uj:li  L'tl)  iialiinillv  follow  iin- 
nu'diiitely  upon  vci-sc  IG.  W-isc  24  is  appaiiMitly  ii  loiifr  inose 
sfiitt'iK-e :  only  "my  poople"  is  in  paralK'lisni  possiltly  with  "tlio 
iiilial)itanl  of  Zion."  TluTc  is  t'vidt'iico  of  disoriicr.  howi-vor; 
Ilir  plirasi-  at  tlir  fiul  of  24,  "aftiT  tin-  uianntr  of  Efiypt,"  is 
out  of  piai'f;  it  is  a  n'lu'tition  from  tiu'  cnil  of  26.  wlitTf  it 
oi'i-ui-s  also,  and  i)roporly.  Hi'forc  it  (in  vci-se  24)  the  Scptua- 
jrint  insiTt.s  tov  iSelf,  i.e.,  I'lnith,  jjossilily  a  mere  repetition  of 
the  eonsonauts  in  \tl  tird',  "fear  not,"  or  possibly,  together 
with  "the  way  of  Egypt,"  a  nuirginal  reading;  if  the  original 
text  read  'ill  ti'xtilh  (Josh.  8.1)  or  '«/  liphxddh,  with  'til  tinV  in 
tin-  margin  intended  a.s  a  proper  insertion,  the  JIas.soretie  text 
may  have  substituted  it  instead  of,  i)roperly,  adding  it: 

•al  tirii'  •iimmi 

u'f-  'ill  t''x<'ll>  y'lultrbh  {'inynii 

inc-  'Axluhiir  baslisliebhef    i/akkckkii 

I'lmatfthu  yissii'  ' lih'khii. 

t'li  ini-  >i,iii/.i  loiistruetion  ef.  7.4:  "fear  not,  neither  be  faint- 
hearted, from  these  two,"  ete.  Here  bashslubhrt  iinkki  kki'i  is 
probably  a  relative  elause  (ef.  the  note  to  1.21). 

25.  Kead  zu'm'i,  "my  indigimtion,"  for  zii' am ;  and  for  'al 
tabhlUhilm,  "upon  their  destruetion,"  'nl  hbhrl  yiltom:  "(and 
my  anger)  against  the  world  [ef.  13.11]  will  be  finished"  (of. 
the  parallelism  in  16.4);  or  'I'llfkhd  (kiilln)  jiiltom:  "against 
thee  will  all  be  finished." 

26.  For  shot,  "seourge.  "  read  shibhti'i.  "his  stalT."  parallel 
to  iniittihii,  "his  rod";  the  exact  repetition  of  the  terms  slirbhrl 
and  (H(i//»"  from  verse  24  is  stylistieally  .safisfaetory  and  em- 
phatie.  but  the  repetition  of  one  and  variation  of  the  other 
obseure.s  the  emphasis:  "Fear  not  from  A.ssyria,  who  smites  thee 
with  rinl  and  staff;  for  .soon  the  rod  and  statT  will  be  turned 
against  him."  The  Septuagint  omits  .s7i/"</  here;  probably,  then, 
it  sfmul  in  the  margin,  niul  wa.s  intended  for  an  insertion  in  verse 
22  (<|.v.),  when-  it  is  in  plaee. 

The  seeond  half  of  this  verst-  is  litirally:  "and  his  staff 
upon  the  sea  and  he  will  raise  it  in  thr  iiuininr  of  Kgyjit"; 
Septuagint :    "and    his    wrath    by    the    way    of   tln'   sea,    to    the 

[429] 


Parallel  ism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 


way  toward  Egypt."  The  confusion  is  self-evident;  parallel- 
ism suggests  simply:  u-mattehu  'dimv  yinndse'  (or  yissa')  ft*"- 
dherekh  migrdyim,  "and  his  statf  against  him  shall  be  raised 
(or  shall  he  raise)  in  the  manner  of  Egypt";  'al  hay-yom  may 
be  from  '"lehem,  "upon  them,"  an  error  for  'dleiw,  "upon  him" ; 
but  if  tlir  plirase  "at  the  Rock  of  Orebh"  in  the  preceding 
stiehos  is  eori'ect,  then  "at  the  sea,"  balancing  it,  belongs  at  the 
end  of  this  second  stichos. 

27c.  We-xithhal  ' ol  niip-p' nf  shdnuii  ("and  the  yoke  shall  be 
destroyed  because  of  the  anointing  [lit.  the  oil]"):  tr'-xiibbal 
means  "be  corrupted,"  "wa.ste  away"  (cf.  Job  17.1,  where  it  is 
parallel  to  "be  extinguished";  Micah  2.10,  to  "be  sick"),  and 
is  inappropriate  with  "yoke,"  'dl;  the  repetition  of  'dl  from 
the  preceding  stichos  is  intolerable;  "because  of  the  anointing" 
is  absurd ;  and  the  whole  clause  is  probably  made  up  of  mar- 
ginal variants  to  the  preceding  couplet,  or,  in  part  belongs  with 
the  next  section,  which  has  no  connection  with  verse  27  and 
itself  is  probablj-  defective  in  its  beginning;  evidently  the  orig- 
inal document  was  in  bad  condition  here.  Xuhhal,  vocalized 
xehhel,  "rope.""  might  be  a  variant  of  ' ol  in  stichos  b,  or  of 
sdhhel,  "burdrii,"  in  a:  slidiiuii,  "oil.""  a  corruption  of 
shikhiiicllid.  "thy  shoulder,"'  wliicli.  iudrcd.  the  Septuagint 
reads,  wliih'  it  otters  further  cvidi'iu-r  of  i-orruption  in  reading 
in  stichos  b  "fear  from  thee"  instead  of  "his  yoke  from  thy 
neck."  The  omission  of  this  corrupt  stielios  leave-s  a  couplet 
similar  to  14.25,  "his  yoke  shall  dejjart  from  oft'  them,  and  his 
burden  depart  from  off  their  shoulders." 

28-31.  This  picture  of  the  approach  of  the  A.s.syrian  belongs 
in  spirit  with  5.26-20 ;  and  the  reconstruction  of  an  introductory 
•stichos,  together  with  the  division  of  verse  30a  into  two  stichoi 
(as  suggested  below),  would  yield  IS  stichoi,  the  .same  number 
as  in  5.26-30.  The  gemral  parallelism  is  evident;  down  to  verse 
31  each  stichos  contains  a  pi-oper  name  and  a  verb ;  a  third  term, 
object  of  the  verb,  is  found  possibly  in  three  stichoi.  In  sub- 
ject matter  the  first  five  stichoi  give  the  route  traveled  by  the 
Assyrian  to  his  niglit  encampment;  the  following  seven   (begin- 


[430; 


I'linillilism   in   Isaiah.  Cha/jtos   l-li>  •.M'i 

Cll.VI'TKU    10 

iiiii;,'  ■"Kaiiiali  is  afraiii"")  p'u'turc  tlu'  alarm  of  places  i-itlicr 
;iliing:,  (U-  near,  the  roiito  iif  iiiaivli  on  the  uoininj:  day;  the  elinuix 
111  vei-se  32)  is  not  char  in  form  or  purpose.  There  is  a  stroii-; 
presumption  that  orifjinally  the  eouplet  formation,  whieh  at 
present  is  indieateil  liy  a  eloser  affinity  between  some  of  the  verbs 
used,  was  eonsisteiit  throuj^hout :  the  ti'.xt  is  not  without  internal 
evidence  of  corruptions. 

Another  factor  to  be  taken  into  account  is  assonance;  within 
the  following  stichoi  there  is  a  repetition  of  at  least  one  letter 
in  each  case:  'iihhar  b'-mir/hron;  'abh'ril  Dui'bhurd;  mdlon  Ifinii ; 
Y<ir'<//i<i  Inhnhud;  ^vi/i'/i  qoli'kli  buih-ijaUim ;  haqshlbhl  Urjishd: 
'"uiiiiji'i  '"ndlhi'ith ;  nd(lh>'dhd  madhmfnd;  b'ndbh  . . .  ij'itdphfph. 
INissibly  the  selection  of  the  place  names  for  mention  was  jrov- 
t-rned  in  part  by  this  i)rinciple. 

28.  bd'  'dl  'Ai/j/ath,  "he  is  come  to  Aiath,"  means  rather 
"he  has  jronc  ajrainst  Aiath";  assonance  is  missing:  this  ttrst 
stichos  is  possibly,  then,  defective;  perhaps  'al,  "against,"  rep- 
resents another  verb,  'did,  while  bd'  belongs  in  a  missing  preced- 
ing stiehos. 

'Abluir  />'"-i(iiV//ir'/H.  "he  is  pa.s.sed  to  Migron  ':  'dbhar  here 
nd  immediately  afterwards  in  verse  29  is  crude;  possibly  orig- 
inally another  verb,  with  a  more  exact  alliteration,  stood  here. 

1/ -niikhiiias  ijaphqhUi  ki'ldw,  literally  "to  Miehmas  he  will 
entrust  his  baggage":  the  preposition  should  be  b''  ("in";  the 
verb,  then,  "store  up")  ;  tlie  imperfect  verb,  while  all  others 
down  to  verse  32  are  perfects,  is  unjustified;  alliteration  is 
aksent ;  the  line  is  long;  it  does  not  stand  in  clear  parallelism; 
and  the  nuestion  nuiy  be  asked,  why  the  author  nmkes  the  army 
spend  the  night  just  one  hour's  march  beyond  its  impedimenta, 
instead  of  in  the  same  plai-c  with  them — especially  since  the  gain 
of  one  hour  in  the  next  day's  start  could  not  be  of  much  imjior- 
tanee;  for  the  entire  distance  from  Miehmas  to  .leru.salem  is  only 
three  or  four  hours'  march.  Possibly  the  answer  is  that  there  is 
a  play  on  the  name  Michma.s.  if  the  root  kdnui.i,  actually  (cf. 
Deut.  32.34),  or  by  approximation  to  kdfias,  denotes  "gather," 
"store  up.  "     From  the  standpoint  of  parallilism.  this  stiehos  in 

I  431  ] 


376  Parallel  ism   in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  10 

form  and  thought  might  he  joined  with  "they  Imve  taken   up 

tlieii'  hjdg:ings  in  Geba";  but  another  stichos  intervenes. 

29.  "They  are  gone  over  the  passage";  the  omission  of  the 
proper  name  of  the  Pass  is  .striking;  perhaps  the  nest  word, 
Geba,  is  to  be  joined  to  this  stichos;  the  pass  between  Michmas 
and  Geba  might  as  well  be  ealled  Geba  Pass  as  Michmas  Pass 
(I  Sam.  13.23). 

Gebha'  mdlun  hlnu  is  literally  either  "Geba  (is)  a  lodging 
for  us"  or  "Geba  (is)  a  lodging  (which;  cognate  ace.)  they  have 
lodged";  either  is  suspicious.  If  Geba,  as  suggested,  belongs 
with  "Pass,"  mfiloii  represents  a  enrnipt  pi-oper  name;  e.g. 
(with  dittography  from  Gebha'),  h'-'dlinoii  Id  ml  (of.  Josh. 
21.18)  ;  the  Septuagint  sub.stitutes  here  a  repetition  of  the  tirst 
stichos  of  verse  28. 

30.  Q'ah"U  qdlckh  is  literally  "neigh  thy  voice";  doubly 
curious  because  the  absolutely  superfluous  qulckh  makes  the  line 
too  long,  and  because  qah"li  is  elsewhere  used  only  of  jo}',  praise, 
desire,  not  fear.  The  Septuagint  omits  both  words.  Since, 
moreover,  there  is  an  odd  number  of  stichoi  in  this  section,  it  is 
probable  that,  together  with  n(si',  "raise,"  the  proper  verl)  to 
govern  golekk,  some  place  name  has  fallen  out  after  (•ah"ri.  per- 
haps Azmaweth  (north  of  Auatlioth),  not  mentioned  until  later 
times,  it  is  true;  but  Gebim  (verse  31).  also  is  an  otherwise 
unknown  place.  Corresponding  to  a  couplet  containing  the.se 
two  verbs  "shriek,"  "raise  thy  voice,"  is  the  couplet  formed  by 
the  remainder  of  this  vei-se :  "Listen,  Laisha ;  answer  [read  '"ni 
for  '"nljiyd]  Anatoth." 

31.  Possiblj-  the  couplet  "Madnienah  is  removed  [i.e.,  fled], 
the  inhabitants  of  Gebim  have  sought  safety  [A.  V.  gather  them- 
selves together  to  flee]  "  belongs  at  the  end  of  29;  gebhhn  means 
pits  or  cisterns;  and  there  may  be  a  play  on  the  thought  of  the 
pit  as  a  place  of  hiding  (cf.  I  Sam.  13.6,  where  the  Philistines 
are  described  as  hiding  in  pits  when  Saul  advanced  to  Michmas). 

3l>.  "As  yet  shall  fhe)  remain  at  Nob  that  day,"  'odh  hay- 
ynin  h'-iidhh  la-'"viddh:  rxlh  is  perhaps  an  eri'or;  the  peri- 
phi-aslic  iiilinitive  la-' "iiirnlh ,  if  correct,  denotes  either  necessity. 


[432; 


fanill.lisni   in   Isiiioh.  Chaptirs   I-IO  Ml 

CllAI'TEU    10 

■"111'  iiiust  Stay,"  or  iimiiiiH'iu-f,  "is  alimit  to  stay";  only  the 
latter  is  lo>;ical  liero;  and  'oilli,  denotiiif,'  ('(Hitiniiant'e,  is  then 
eonl'iisin^r:  it"  eorreet,  it  must  liave  tlie  unusual  meaning  "still 
to-day,"  i.e.,  even  totlay  (b'-'i(;iin  haiz-iioin  lutz-zt' ;  or  u'-'wih 
hay-yom  ijddhol)  ;  hut  it  may  he  onl.v  dittography  from  the 
preeeding  word,  wliieii  tiie  Septuagint  repeats  instead  of  it; 
luiiiyotii,  "today,"  is  suflieient.  It  should  he  noted,  however, 
that  the  sentence  eontains  no  subject,  wiiieli  is  all  tiie  more 
remarkable  in  that  tin-  implied  subject  is  not  that  of  the  imme- 
(liateiy  preceding  stichoi,  but  one  last  referred  to  in  29b;  'odh 
stands  just  where  a  subject  might  be  expected.  lAt-"modh,  if 
correct,  is  not  liere  "tarry,"  but  simply  "take  his  stand";  Nobh 
was  evidently  a  hill  overlooking  .leru.salem  (possibly  because  of 
!/•  iii'iphi  ph,  Hi'tbh  suggests  noph,  "height";  cf.  Ps.  48.3),  on 
wiiieh  he  "is  to  take  his  stand"  to  give  iiis  signal  to  his  armies 
for  the  attack.  Y'tiophiph  (read  possibly  ir'-nophrpli)  occurs 
only  here,  and  replaces  the  usual  form  nditiph  (ef.  II.!;").  l.'i.2. 
19.16,  etc.^  simply  for  the  sake  of  the  jissonance. 

"The  mountain  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  tlie  hill  of  .leru- 
snlem":  as  aceu.satives  of  place  after  the  verb  "wave"  the 
construction  is  remarkable;  the  verb  is  followed  always  iiy  a 
pn-position,  or  else  is  used  absolutely  (cf.  13.2)  ;  liar  bath  (Jiifdn 
and  ijibh'ath  Y'rCishdl/ii/im  are  evidently  parallels:  possibly, 
linn,  they  are  mere  vocatives. 

3.{-."14  constitute  a  stanza,  at  present  of  live  stichoi,  all  jiar- 
allel,  but  with  a  closer  affinity  between  the  first  ("the  Lord  shall 
lop  the  bough  with  terror")  and  fourth  ("and  he  shall  cut  down 
the  thickets  of  the  forests  with  iron"^  ;  between  the  second  ("and 
the  high  ones  of  stature  shall  be  hewn  down")  aiul  third  ("and 
the  haughty  shall  be  humblfd")  :  and  perhaps  brtwien  these 
and  the  fifth  ("and  Ii«<banon  .shall  fall  by  a  mighty  one")  ;  pos- 
sil)ly  then  a  sixth  stiehos  should  he  supplied  to  balance  the  fifth  : 
e.g.,  w'hab-b'nhh  han-iihd'  ijikkdrith:  "and  fiie  lofty  fir  shall 
be  cut  down"  (cf.  14.8,  37.24).  This  parallelism  points  also 
to  the  emendation  of  b''tnn'''rdt;i'i,  "with  terror,"  which  is  very 
inapt,    to   b''iiui''\dilh    or   ina'''<:dflh)'i,   a   synonym   of   b''biir:cl 

I  43.1  ) 


378  Parallelism  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

Chapter  10 

("with  iron,"  i.e.,  "axe")  ;  ef.  Jer.  10.3,  "one  entteth  a  tree 
out  of  the  forest ...  with  the  axe  {bam-nm' '^cddh ;  Is.  44.12: 
barzcl  nia^gddh)  ;  in  Arabic  the  equivalent  ml'dad  is  exactly 
"an  instrument  with  which  trees  are  lopped"  (Lane,  s.v.).  For 
ba-'add'ir,  "by  a  mighty  one,"  read  ha-'addlr  ("the  mighty"; 
cf.  Ezik.  17.23,  '(Tcz  'addir.  "a  goodly  cedar'")  ;  or  simply 
'addJr.  transposed  before  "Lebanon";  in  Is.  60.13  k<^bhOdh 
L'hhdtinii.  literally,  "tlie  glorv  of  Lebanon,"  means  "cedar." 


[  4:«  ] 


I'unilhli.iin   iit   Isitiiih.  Chiipt.rs   1-1(1 


SIMM.VUY 

AMOINT  of   rARAI.I.Kl.lS> 

I    IN   THE  OKAI'I.ES 

OF 

Isaiah  l-Hi 

Tutal 
iiumlxT  o 
•period.' 

C'h-ar 

par.ll.'li.m 

With 
trace* 
pnrjillcli 

Non  parallfli 

.tic 

f   !• 

Km* 

-.»■ 

end  of 

' 

Cb>pl.-r 

No. 

I'ercpnlaico 
of  whoU' 

Othcm 

1. 

93 

83 

87% 

8 

2(3) 

i(n 

1 

2. 

71 

03 

88% 

5 

3 

;t. 

81 

•>7 

83% 

10 

3 

I 

4. 

24 

18 

7-.% 

4 

.... 

2 

5. 

lot 

87 

8r,% 

12 

1 

2 

ti.Ob-lO,  110-13' 

17 

U 

ti4% 

ti 

7.4b  9,  18-2.V 

40 

22 

.-..-.% 

IG 

1 

.... 

1 

8.ft-10, 12-13, 

21-23' 

4.^. 

30 

6f.% 

15 

.... 

.... 

9. 

74 

71 

98% 

2 

.... 

1 

1 

10. 

99 

78 

78% 

17 

1 

3 

Totals 

6-17 

330 

82% 

95' 

7 

3 

14 

'o.i-n«.  n«. 

HV-JO  arr  pmrtly 
Thouch  eontaming 
in   thf.   lal.l.. 

=  A  li«l  of  the 
cl.>r>  not  rxixl.  (nil 

arr  narrative  and  rtitobiofn-ap 
narralivo.  partly  prraonal,  and 
a  ronsidvratilc   amount  of  par 

r,.r»es  ;n  which  pnr<,llelisin  i«  i 

hical;    7.1-3 
partly  deal 
illelimn.   the) 

«l  clear,  nn 

10-1- 
with  n 
have 

well  ns 

:    and    8. 
mes  and 
not  been 

tho.e  in 

!-.'■>.    11, 

iS^id 

which  it 

List  op  Pass.koes  i.v  Isaiah  1-10'  sot  in  Clear  Parai.i.emsm 

Knd 
er        With  traces  of  parallelism  Knrmulns      of  stania  Others 

[2cf];    3b;    9a;    12a,   b,   e;        [2i-ri;24       20b       18a  (intro.I.  wor.is 

13c,  d;   13c;  [24T]  of  exhortation) 

3;  6a;  9c;   18;   [20d?]  [20dJ;    22a,    b,    c 

(not    in    Septua- 
gint) 
1."m';  li'ia  <>c  (contains  words 

ropoutcd  in  7c) 
la;  3c 
9a  5n:  ti<l 


8c  (interrupt.-i  per- 
fect paralloli.sm) 


3. 

la.   b;    3e;    6a;    8c,  d;    9c 

10a;   11a;  14b;  18a 

4. 

2c;  3d;  3c;  6a 

3. 

la,  b,  c,  d;  12;  14c;  2.->c,  d 

26c;  30a,  b.  c,  d 

6. 

9h;  13a,  b,  c,  d,  c 

7. 

4c:  3a,  h;  21;  22;  23-23 

8. 

«c;  7c:   [Mt];  [lOcT);  21 

23 

9. 

3d;  8c 

8;    10;    18a;    21;    22a.    b; 

22c,  d;  24b.  c;  25;  27e 

.Mrr  note  (o  preTiooa  table  for  pssMicea 


lOcl 

fik 

4<i;     M-      (repeats 

words     from     6a 

and  3b > 

23 

24  f     (rei)eat.-d    in 

i-erw  27 ) 

[  *3-,  1 


380  Parallelism  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

111  the  preceding  tables  under  "clear  parallelism"  are  in- 
cluded those  slichoi  which  are  generally  called  "synonymous." 
But  it  must  be  noted  that  in  parallelism  this  term  is  applied  to 
series  of  words  other  than  those  cited  in  the  dictionaries  as 
synonyms  or  antonyms;  there  are  not  many  stichoi,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  in  which  the  corresponding  words  are  exact  synonyms, 
as  they  are,  for  instance,  in  2.17,  where  gahhuth  and  ruyn  each 
means  literally  "height,"  'ddhdvi  and  '"ridshlrn  mean  respec- 
tively "mankind"  and  "men,"  and  sJuix  and  shdphel,  "prostrate 
oneself"  and  "lie  low"  nr  "prostrate."  Moi-e  often  the  tenns 
are  synonyms  only  by  s.ynecdoche  or  some  other  variety  of 
metonomj',  as  in  1.29,  where  "oaks"  is  used  as  a  sjTionym  of 
"gardens"  or  "groves."  Perhaps,  then,  a  broader  term  than 
"synonj-ms"  should  be  used,  such  as  "complements,"  denoting 
terms  which  as  they  are  used  by  the  author  are  seen  to  belong  to 
some  one  logical  category.  Such  complements  Isaiah  is  fond  of 
heaping  up;  e.g.,  in  1.11-14,  terms  referring  to  ritual  service 
(offerings  and  sacrifices  of  various  kinds,  oblations,  incense,  fes- 
tivals and  feasts)  ;  2.7-8,  to  riches  (silver,  gold,  horses,  chariots)  ; 
3.18-23,  to  di'css  (21  items)  ;  2.13,  to  height  as  a  symbol  of  pride 
(mountains,  hills,  cedars,  oaks,  towers,  walls,  ships)  ;  3.2,  to  pub- 
lic life  (mightj-  men,  warriors,  judges,  prophets,  necromancers)  ; 
3.0,  6,  to  mutual  human  relationship  (man,  neighbor,  youth,  aged, 
lowly,  honorable,  brother,  father) ;  7.19,  to  landscape  (valleys, 
caves,  bushes,  meadows)  ;  1.6,  to  treatment  of  wounds  (pressed, 
bound,  softened)  ;  U,  to  destruction  (wasted,  burnt,  eaten) ;  1.11 
to  aversion  (satiated,  displeased,  abominate,  not  tolerate,  hate,  find 
burdensome,  wearied)  ;  5.2,  to  viticulture  (clear  and  fence  land, 
plant,  build  watch-towers,  hew  vats)  ;  and  to  many  other  vague 
sj'uthetic  ideas  implied  in  the  use  of  such  regularly  associated 
complements  as  heaven  and  earth ;  sea  and  land ;  light  and  dark- 
ness ;  hear  and  speak ;  command  and  obey.  Sometimes,  however, 
the  complementarj^  nature  of  the  terms  is  not  due  to  regular 
association  but  rather  to  the  special,  often  metaphorical,  use  in 
the  stichoi  in  question:  e.g.,  "flint"  and  "whirlwind"  to  connote 
hardness  and  swiftness  as  the  attributes  respectively  of  horses' 
hoofs  and  chariot  wheels  advancing  for  an  invasion.     In  all  these 


[436; 


runillilisnt   in   Isuiuli.  Cluiiitirs    l-IO  :!81 

cases  it  is  ijiiite  eviilont  that  the  lists  of  terms  used  by  tlie 
Prophet  inisjht  be  either  eiihirfjed  or  diiniuished  without  etTeetiiifj; 
ills  main  purpose;  eoiiipare  1.26  with  3.2,  two  passages  referring 
to  oflieials;  the  fact  that  the  fonuer  mentions  only  judges  luid 
.iiunselloi-s  wiiereas  the  latter  mentions  many  other  classes  does 
iiiit  imply  that  the  Prophet  is  predicting  the  existence  of  a  state 
ui  which  there  shall  be  oidy  those  two  classes  of  officials;  but  as 
in  all  such  eases,  each  stichos  mentioning  on.'  species  of  tlie  genus 
implies  the  whole  genus.  Aiul  so  tiu'  term  "complementary"  can 
be  applied  to  thought  units  or  periods  as  a  whole,  to  two  or  more 
lines  each  of  which  expresses  an  eciual  part  of  some  one  eompli'X 
idea.  It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  lyric,  prophetic,  or  didactic 
jHiotry  must  not  be  viewed  as  would  be  an  historical  or  geological 
treatise;  in  the  light  of  parallelism  a  list  such  as  that  in  3.18  is 
poetical  and  cflfective;  a.s  archaeology  it  might  be  interesting,  but 
it  is  tedious  and  defective. 

Aiul  here  the  rule  should  !)!■  enunciated  that  in  a  ])aralli'listic 
.setting,  i.e.,  when  surrounded  by  other  couplets  or  strophes  in 
evitlent  parallelism,  any  two  lines  nnist  also  be  read  as  parallel- 
ism if  this  is  in  any  way  jiossible;  just  as  in  the  scansion  of 
poetry  a  doubtful  line  must  be  scanned  if  possible  in  the  light 
of  the  dominant  metre.     For  examjile  ').'2i>: 

Therefore  is  the  anger  of  the  Lord  kinjlod  acain.st  his  penplo. 

Ami  ho  hath  stretrhe<l  forth  his  hand  against  thorn  i>nd  smitten  thoin. 

If  this  were  simple  imrrative,  it  might  be  said  that  the  fact 
detailed  in  the  second  line  was  sid)se(|uent  to  that  described  in 
the  first.  But  I.saiah  is  not  here  concerned  mainly  with  writing 
history  or  making  a  psychological  analysis;  the  second  line  is  not 
Miily  a  logical  compb'ment  of  the  fii-st,  but  by  implication  one 
is  a  repetition  of  the  other:  from  the  standpoint  of  prophetic 
philo-sophy  God's  anger  implies  of  necessity  i)unishment;  or  at 
last  punishment  implits  his  anger.  So  the  couplet  in  Amos  ."i.S, 
iliseussed  by  Mr.  Xewman  undir  .synthetic  parallelism,  I  should 
Miihesitatingly  ela.ssify  as  clear  parallelism  : 

He  that  calls  for  the  waters  of  the  s4>a. 

And  pours  tl^ ■ '■•  •' >l'  the  earth. 


I  i;;r  ) 


382  Pdrallclistii  in  haiab,  Chapters  1-10 

This,  again,  is  not  intended  primarih-  as  a  scientific  description 
of  the  formation  of  rain ;  each  line  means  simply :  God  controls 
by  his  word  the  phenomena  of  nature. 

At  the  same  time  objection  must  be  taken  to  the  indiscrim- 
inate use  of  the  term  "synthetic  parallelism"  in  reference  to 
any  two  lines  in  couplet  formation.  Following  the  Isaiah  passage 
last  quoted  is  this  couplet  (5.25c,  d)  : 

And  tlie  liills  did  tremble 

And  their  carcases  were  torn  in  the  midst  of  the  streets. 

In  a  general  way,  it  is  true,  each  of  these  lines  means  that  when 
God  is  angry,  the  whole  world  (nature  and  man)  feels  the  effects, 
but  the  two  stichoi  first  quoted  speak  specifically  of  God's  anger 
against  men ;  the  last  stichos  still  is  limited  to  the  same  narrower 
objective.  Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to  group  the  subjects  "hills" 
and  "carcasses,"  and  the  predicates  "tremble"  and  "torn,"  re- 
spectively under  any  one  category.  On  the  other  hand,  "hills" 
and  "streets"  are  or  may  be  parallels;  and,  in  the  light  of  the 
evident  awkwardness  of  style  (with  the  pronoun  in  the  fourth 
line  referring  back  to  the  second  in  absolute  disregard  of  the 
third),  and  of  the  comparative  shortness  of  the  third  line,  I  have 
classified  the  couplet  as  one  with  "traces  of  parallelism." 

Another  possible  area  of  doubt  is  presented  by  incomplete 
propositions  or  clauses  as  elements  in  parallelism.  Cases  in 
which  the  incompleteness  is  inei'el\-  rhetorical  need  not  be  con- 
sidered here;  i.e.,  those  in  which  an  incomplete  phrase  or  clause 
is  in  apposition  with  some  \v,\vt  of  a  complete  sentence,  and 
hence  assumes  from  it  the  missing  syntactic  elements,  as  1.8, 
where  "as  a  lodge  in  the  cucumber-garden"  is  parallel  to  "the 
daughter  of  Zion  is  left  as  a  cottage  in  the  vineyard";  or  1.6, 
where  the  series  of  detached  nouns  "wounds,  aud  bruises,  and 
purif\nng  sores"  is  in  apposition  with  "all  the  head  is  sick" 
and  with  the  following  series  of  vei'lis,  "nut  ]iressed.  not  l)onn(l, 
not  softened  witli  ointment,"  or  may  l)c  considered  in  itself 
as  a  series  of  three  parallel  lenns;  or  again  9.20,  21,  where 
"Manasseh,  Ephraim,  and  E])hiaiui,  ilanasseh,  and  together 
they  against  ['nl]  Judah"  ai'c  jKirallel  clauses  deriving  their 
.syntactic  construction  from  the  previdus  sentences,  "each  shall 

[  138  ] 


I'iinill.lism   in   Is^iuilt.  Chiii>t,rs   1-10  :{S:j 

eat  tlu'  Hosli  of  liis  own  arm,"  or  "or  liis  iK-i-rlihor. "  ami  ■"he 
shall  cat  on  ['al\  the  rinlit  liaiiil.  " 

A  sei-oiul  variety  of  iiifoini)li'ti'  parallelisni  is  seen  when  to  a 
"iiplet  syntaetieally  eoinplete  is  added  another  parallelistie 
I'ouplet  expressinj;  a  non-essential  (inalifier,  v.g.,  2.10:  "  Knter 
into  the  roek,  and  hiile  thef  in  the  dust,"  to  whieh  is  added,  "for 
fear  of  the  Loril,  and  for  the  {rlory  of  ids  majesty";  here  afjain 
the  j)arallelisn»  is  elear ;  but  in  verses  20  and  21  a  tiiird  prepo- 
sitional phrase  is  added:  "when  he  rises  to  shake  terribly  tiie 
earth"  (lleb.  "at  his  risiiifj:  to  terrify  the  eai'th").  Here  "fear" 
and  "terrify"  are  assoeiated  terms,  though  used  in  varying  syn- 
tactic construction;  and  it  is  (piite  evident  that  "for  fear  of  the 
Lord"  might  be  omitted,  without  altering  the  sense  in  any  way: 
"lliile  thee  in  the  dust  wiien  the  Lord  ris.s  to  terrify  thi'  earth" 
implies  the  fear.  However.  I  have  reckoned  the  additional 
phra.se  as  om-  showing  merely  traers  of  parallelism,  in  order  that 
1  might  not  be  chargeil  with  exaggerating  tiie  number  of  cases 
iif  clear  parallelism,  it  should  be  remarked,  moreover,  that  even 
if  there  were  no  stiehie  i)arallelisni  here,  there  woidd  still  be 
stropiiic  parallelism,  since  the  whole  refrain  is  repeated  in  the 
sjime  form. 

A  gp'jitcr  variation  from  tiir  siinjilc  ty|)i'  of  i)arallclism  arises 
in  what  1  have  called  "suspensive"  parallelism,  seen  in  quatrains 
in  wiiieii  neither  .set  of  parallel  stichoi  is  .syntactically  complete 
without  the  other:  e.g..  4.."! ;  9.5  (Eng.).  .Still,  these  seem  to  me 
undoiditedly  j>arallelistic  in  principle.  But  it  is  possible  that 
in  the  use  of  this  form  there  lies  the  beginning  of  non-parallel- 
istic  formations  in  Hebrew  juietry,  for  it  accustoms  the  mind  to 
the  u.se  of  incomplete  stichoi  as  units  of  poetic  structure.  An 
intermediate  .step  between  the  suspensive  parallelism  and  non- 
paralltlism  is  perhaps  to  l)e  seen  in  a  couple  of  examples  in 
whieh,  while  the  first  part  of  a  proposition  is  repeated  in  a  par- 
allelistie couplet,  only  a  single  stichos  is  added  to  complete  the 
meaning;  e.g.,  4.:}; 

Ho  who  U  left  in  Zion 
An<l  !»•  thnt  mnninrtli  in  J<Tii»ilrni 
Slinll  h(.lv  !>,.  cnll.Ml. 


[  <39  1 


3S4  Farnlh'lisiti  in  Isaiah.  Chapters  1-10 

Or  9.4  (Eiig.),  with  tristic-li  instead  of  couplet: 

The  yoke  of  his  burden, 
And  the  staff  of  his  shoulder, 
The  rod  of  his  oppressor. 

Hast  thou  broken  in  the  day  of  Midian. 

It  would  be  possible  to  regard  these  two  instances  as  being  the 
reverse  of  the  species  of  appositional  parallelism  exemplified  in 
1.26cd  and  1.8  (quoted  above)  respectively,  i.e.,  with  a  long 
second  line,  the  first  being  in  anticipatory  apposition  with  part 

thereof : 

He  wlio  is  left  in  Ziou 

And  he  that  reniaineth  in  Jerusalem  shall  holy  be  called ; 

The  staff   of  his  shoulder. 

The  rod  of  his  oppressor  hast  thou  broken  as  in  the  day  of  Midian. 

But  in  these  two  instances  I  believe  that  the  text  is  faulty :  at 
any  rate  I  have  elassitii  d  the  odd  stichoi  as  doubtful. 

In  all  of  the  eases  of  the  use  of  incomplete  clauses  or  phrases 
diseussed  thus  far  (excepting  the  last  phrase  in  2.19),  syntactic 
parallelism  was  present.  But  there  are  also  cases  in  which 
apparently  clauses  of  diiferent  syntactic  construction  may  be 
parallel : 

Relative  cloKses. — In  these  the  relative  is  the  double  relative 
("lie  who,"'  or  "that  whicir'i.  and  the  clause  is  not  restrictive 
or  (sscntial,  but  is  an  ai)i)i)siti(iiial  modifier.  In  3.28,  "whose 
arrows  are  sharp  and  all  whose  bows  are  bent,"  are  two  such 
clauses  in  parallelism  with  each  other;  nevertheless  they  estab- 
lish the  use  of  the  relative  in  parallelism.  But  in  2.8,  2.20,  are 
relative  clau.ses  in  apposition  to  nouns  (see  there,  and  the  dis- 
cussion on  1.21)  ;  and  in  9.2  ka-'"sher  (lit.  "like  what,"  i.e., 
"as")  before  a  finite  verb,  "they  rejoice,"  is  parallel  to  the 
simple  preposition  /." ,  "like,"  before  a  noun,  "the  joy."  Other 
relatives  appear  in  2.22,  5.5,  8.20,  8.23  [9.1],  all  in  doubtful 
passages. 

Circumstantial  clauses. — These  contain  verbs  in  the  imper- 
fect, the  English  generally  translating  as  independent  sentences. 
Examples  are:  8.8,  "Reaching  (imperf.)  even  to  the  neck,"  par- 
allel to  "it  shall  overflow  and  go  over";  9.18.  "devouring  the 


[440: 


rartilhlisii,   in   /n.oWi,  Vhaptirs    l-IO  :}85 

l)rii'rs  and  tliorns."  |iaiallc'l  In  ' '  iMiriidli  as  a  tire":  !».!!•.  '•facli 
catint;  tin-  Hish  of  liis  own  arm,"  parall.l  to  ••|if  i\U-  upon  tli.- 
Ifft";  5.6,  "not  boinj;  pnini'd"  paralK-l  to  "I  shall  make  it  a 
waste"  (SCO  also  tin-  note  on  1.5).  In  ;}.16  thf  cirennistantial 
iniptTtVi-t,  "walking  and  mincin}?  as  they  i^o"  is  in  parallelism 
with  the  participle,  •'ofilin-r  with  their  eyes,"  and  both  arc  in 
parallelism  to  "they  are  haufihty."  Sometimes  the  circumstan- 
tial imperfect  is  difficult  to  di.stinjruish  from  the  relative  clause 
with  relative  omitt<d  ^see  a;.'ain  on  1.21)  ;  thus  10.24:  "smiting 
thee  with  the  rod"  or  "who  .smites  thee  with  the  rod,"  referring 
to  "the  Assyrian":  here,  however,  there  are  two  such  imperfect 
clauses,  so  that  parallelism  dots  not  dc])in(l  upon  this  inti'i-pre- 
tation. 

The  use  of  all  of  the.se  clauses  in  parallelism  still  rests  upon 
the  principle  of  apposition;  but  there  is  another  .series  of  de- 
pendent clauses  of  various  kinds,  introduced  by  svibordinating 
conjunctions,  and  which  nevertheless  may  be  in  parallelism  to 
their  own  main  clauses;  though  this  involves  apparently  consid- 
eraltle  departure  from  the  siin|)le  type  of  synonymous  parallelism 
and  may  be  a  subject  for  divergence  of  opinion.  It  is  jigain  to 
be  insisted  upon,  that  where  such  clauses  occur  in  the  midst  of 
parallelism,  the  investigator  must  seek  for  reasons  to  include 
them  as  such,  and  not  allow  his  own  definitions  and  jirejudg- 
nients  to  deny  their  parallelism. 

Conditional  douses. — It  is  evident  of  course,  that  not  every 
protasis  and  ajiodosis  can  be  regarded  as  parallelistic :  but  the 
monifiit  that  they  contain  synonyms  or  eomiilements,  the  possi- 
bility that  the  author  intended  them  as  sni4i  is  present ;  e.g.,  I.IS  : 
If  your  sins  nrc  rcil  as  soarlot, 
They  shall  he  white  ns  snow. 

It  must  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  in  Ibbriw  syntax 
d<>pendent  and  independent  con.st ructions  interchange  freely, 
that  protasis  and  apodosis  even  in  prose  may  be  expn-s-sed  as 
parallel  clauses;  e.g.,  \um.  14.15.  "if  thou  slialt  kill  all  this 
people,  the  nations  will  .sjiy"  is  literally:  "And  thou  shalt  kill 
all  this  people  and  the  nations  will  say."  Compare  also  with 
this  the  parallelistic  construction  in  Is.  5.7:  "What  was  there 


(411 


386  Panillclism   in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

still  to  do  to  my  viiieyiird,  and  did  I  not  do,"  which  is  the  equiva- 
lent of  "if  [or  when]  there  was  anything  to  do  to  my  vineyard, 
did  I  not  do  it?"  or,  as  the  English  actually  translates,  "what 
was  there  that  I  did  not  do?"  A  closer  examination  of  Is.  1.18 
shows  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  condition  is  merely  a  rhetorical 
one;  the  thought  is:  "Your  sins  are  now  as  scarlet;  the.y  shall 
[or  must]  Ijc  white  as  snow."  Another  example  is  contained 
in  7.9 : 

If  ye  are  not  firm  (he'^mlnu) 

Ye  shall  not  be  confirmed  {tc'amilnH). 

Here,  perhaps,  a  real  condition  is  involved;  nevertheless  the 
intention  of  parallelism  seems  certain  because  of  the  repetition 
of  the  root  'a man;  and  the  same  intention  would  seem  to  be 
evidenced  by  tlie  unusual  insertion  of  kl  before  the  apodosis, 
as  a  formal  parallel  to  "/;)(  in  the  protasis.  Again  in  10.22  the 
conditional  sentence  is  merely  rhetorical ;  the  thought  really  is 
this :  Thy  people  are  now  as  the  sand  of  the  sea ;  they  shall  be 
but  a  remnant.  In  the  table  this  sentence  ha.s  been  counted  as 
showing  traces  of  jjarallelism. 

Temporal  clauses. — An  example  is  found  in  10.12,  "When 
the  Lord,"  etc.,  which  means: 

The  Lord  will  perform  his  work  on  Mount  Zion   (i.e.,  punish  it), 
And   (then)   he  will  punish  the  pride  of  Assyria. 

How  small  the  difference  is  between  the  two  types  of  construc- 
tion is  exemplified  by  5.4,  where  the  Hebrew  is  literally : 

Why  did  I  hope  it  would  bring  forth  grapes. 

And  did  it  bring  forth  wild  grapes? 

while  the  English  tran.slates :  "Wliy,  when  I  looked  that  it  should 
bring  forth  grapes,  brought  it  forth  wild  grapes?"  With  this 
compare  in  verse  7 :  "He  looked  for  judgment,  but  behold,  op- 
pression." which  is  the  equivalent  of  "when  he  looked  for 
jud-meiit,  he  beheld  oppivssi.ui. '  " 

Filial  rlaiiscs. — Final  clauses  introduced  by  If-maUtn  occur 
in  5.19 ;  but  there  are  two  of  them,  parallel  to  each  other.  Final 
infinitives  introduced  by  Z«  occur  similarly  as  a  pair  in  9.6  [7]  : 
"to  order  it.  and  to  establish  it";  a  single  such  infinitive  is  found 
in  2.20  {l'-hishtax''iri''tli  ),  but  the  passage  is  not  clear;  imperfects 

[442] 


I'antlhlism   in   Isiiiuh.  ('h,ii>l>  rs   l-lo  :IS7 

witli  If  an-  fouiul  ill  '2.'.U\.  Iml  a-raiii  in  parallrlism  t(i  i-acli  otlnT. 
I'l-rliaps  7.13  also  contains  a  tiiial  clause: 

I.s  it  too  little  for  you  to  woary  inon, 

Tliiit  yc  would  wi>ary  also  my  God  J 
with  whidi  compare  tlie  eoofdiiiate  clauses  in  Num.  9.10: 

l»  it  too  little  a  tiling  to  cat  up  tlie  good  pasture, 

And  will  ye  tread  down  tlie  rest  of  tlie  pasture  witli  your  feet? 

Ciiiixiil  claiu^is. — Intfodnced  by  ki,  causal  dausis  occur  fre- 
iiuently.  but  fjenerally  in  paii-s.  so  that  the  parallelism  can  not 
be  doubted:  in  S.6  and  7.  li..\vev.-r.  oeeiirs  a  parallelism  of  cause 
ami  effect : 

Because  this  people  refusetli  the  waters  of  Shiloh, 

Therefore  the  Lonl  will  bring  upon  them  the  waters  of  The  River; 

here  the  jiarallelisiu  sujrjJi'sted  by  the  repetition  of  the  word 
•  waters"  is  strenjjthem-d  by  the  correlatives  "becau.se"  and 
•therefore." 

Ciniiparativf  clanxis. — The  parallelism  between  the  two  mem- 
bers of  a  comparison  is  self-evident ;  every  simile  is  in  its  e.s.scnce 
a  form  of  parallelism,  particularly  where  the  correspondence 
between  the  objects  is  complete  in  all  respects.  The  Hebrew 
shows  this  by  its  use  {>f  correlative  prepositions,  e.gr.,  "like  the 
priest  (is)  like  the  people";  or  of  correlative  conjunctions. 
.■.-.  10.11: 

.\s   I   have  done  to  8amurin  and   lirr  idols 
So  shall  I  do  to  Jerusalem  ami  her  idols. 

Finally,  there  is  the  possibility  that  certain  clauses  of  nearer 
dcHiiition.  added  to  verbs  which  are  complete  in  scn.se  when  used 
without  such  clausis,  are  iuteiuled  as  parallels  to  those  verbs; 
the  examples  are  confined  to  chapter  ">.  verses  1,  5,  6  (q.v.)  ;  these 
have  not  been  reckoned  as  parallels,  however,  in  the  tables. 

On  the  whole  it  may  be  said  that  the  ijresumption  is  very 
strong  of  an  original  intention  of  regularity  in  structure  through- 
out the  oracular  portion  of  these  ten  chapters.  More  than  eighty 
per  cent  of  the  subject  matter  is  in  parallelism  as  it  stands.  An 
additional  foiirtei-n  per  cent  shows  clear  traces  of  j)arallelism ; 
ill  most  of  th««e  cases  there  is  evidence  of  textual  corruption 
irn^pwtive  of  the  question  of  parallelism,  and  the  defects  are 


388  I'araUellsm  in  Isaiah,  Chapters  1-10 

removed  when  parallelism  is  restored ;  iu  the  remainder  of  this 
fourteen  per  cent  there  is  the  possibilitj*  of  regarding  the  text  as 
parallelistic  in  its  present  form,  dependent  iipon  the  acceptance 
of  the  parallelism  of  subordinate  clauses  as  explained  above.  Of 
the  residual  six  per  cent  some  sentences  are  introductory  and 
final  clauses  of  announcement,  and  phrases  of  a  conventional 
tj'pe  standing  at  the  end  of  oracles,  in  which  the  absence  of  par- 
allelism does  not  effect  the  question  of  the  contents  of  the  oracle 
itself;  in  the  case  of  other  isolated  stichoi,  within  the  oracle, 
their  glossatory  nature  is  shown  by  the  presence  of  words  re- 
peated weakly  from  near-by  coupUts.  or  by  the  evidently  intru- 
sive nature  of  the  subject  matter.  Tlie  numV)er  of  cases  in  which 
regularity  of  structure  does  not  exist  but  in  which  the  sense  is 
nevertheless  clear  is  very  small,  indeed ;  the  possibility  of  a 
stichos  having  fallen  out  in  the  course  of  centuries  of  tradition 
is  so  great  that  this  may  well  be  assumed  to  have  taken  place. 

It  should  again  be  noted  that  the  above  tables  and  remarks 
do  not  appl.y  to  those  passages  which  are  narrative  or  auto- 
biographical; nor  should  their  implications  be  extended  to  any 
section  of  prophetic  literature  in  which  non-parallelism  and 
parallelism  are  intermingled  iu  considerably  larger  proportions 
than  in  Isaiah  1-10.  But  the  analogy  of  other  literatures  that 
mingle  prose  and  verse  is  not  in  point  here ;  to  find  a  proper 
analogy  to  account  for  the  psychology  of  our  text  in  its  present 
form  one  should  have  to  offer  examples  of  poetry  marred  by  a 
few  isolated  and  unaccountable  splashes  of  prose ;  or  of  poems 
of  perhaps  one  hundred  lines,  eighty -five  of  which  are  in  perfect 
metre,  while  the  remainder  are  hopelessly  unmetrical,  with  no 
assignable  reason  for  their  lack  of  sjTnmetry.  No  explanation  of 
difBeult  passages  in  the  oracular  portions  of  Isaiah  1-10  should 
be  accepted  unless  it  is  based  upon  parallelism ;  or,  at  least,  no 
emendation  of  the  text  sho\ild  be  accepted  which  does  not  restoi-e 
parallelism. 


[444] 


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